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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23053921">Home Sweet Home</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/cuhcoombuh/pseuds/cuhcoombuh'>cuhcoombuh</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sonic the Hedgehog (2020), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>A sad Tale, Adopted, Angst, F/M, Family trope, Fatherly Love, M/M, Motherly love, Power hungry, Robotnik Lost His Mind, Robotnik managed to capture Sonic, So did Stone, Super Sonic - Freeform, Water Torture (mild!)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 06:27:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>22,274</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23053921</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/cuhcoombuh/pseuds/cuhcoombuh</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Robotnik came back from the Mushroom World and couldn’t stand having been beat by a tiny little hedgehog. In the night, him, Stone, and his bots managed to steal him away. With him, they try to do anything they can to harness the power emitting from this strange creature.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Maddie Wachowski/Tom Wachowski, Robotnik/Agent Stone (mentioned), Sonic the Hedgehog &amp; Tom Wachowski</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>85</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is a story I primarily made for myself and my friend!! this is embarrassing to post..... I mean it’s fucking Sonic fanfiction are you kidding me? But I love this fandom- err, I love writing for it. ;; Anyway, enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sonic didn’t know where in the hell he was. One moment, he was asleep in his bed snuggled up in his blankets safe in his family’s house, and the next he was somewhere he had never seen before! </p><p> He was in a cold dark room with no windows or- anything for what he could see! There was only a single dim lightbulb above his head, which was swaying back and forth in an ominous way. He tried to get up- impossible. He couldn’t make out what was holding him down, but he knew it felt like cold metal... hands? Clamps? He knew for sure that he didn’t like it. </p><p> Fear shot through his system, but he didn’t show it that much. He struggled again, gritting his teeth and making a desperate noise that sounded like a grunt. </p><p> “Whuh- Hello!?” He croaked out, pushing on the hand that held him down. </p><p> Suddenly, all of the lights turned on, being extremely bright to his eyes that were adjusted to the dark just seconds before. He squinted, blinking a few times before his eyes adjusted just enough for him to see his surroundings. What he saw made him jump- It was Robotnik! But- that’s impossible- him and Tom sent him to the Mushroom World! </p><p> Robotnik looked-... err, different..</p><p> He had a longer, unkept and wiry mustache, a...<i>slightly</i> balding head, and an insane glint in his eyes. This didn’t look good for the hedgehog. </p><p> “Ah! You’re finally awake, <i>Sonic</i>.” Robotnik hissed. “You thought you could keep me away from Earth, huh? Well, you were <i>WRONG</i>. Hah! Hehe, HAHA! Now I’m going to have my revenge on you and your little family. How does that sound, huh? It’s only fair for what you made ME go through. No one to speak to, only my own thoughts and wonders to keep me sane!” </p><p> Sonic half-listened, struggling harder with every minute that Egghead was talking. </p><p> Apparently, the genius realized this and furrowed his brows in annoyance. “HEY!” He barked, causing the teen to freeze. “Stop. Moving. Or we’re going to have some problems. Do you understand?” </p><p> Sonic, being Sonic, didn’t answer. Why would he have to answer to some old guy? Because he was tied down? Hah! </p><p> “DO YOU UNDERSTAND!?” </p><p> Okay, that was a little more scary- but not too bad. He just bit his tongue and nodded. He wanted to mouth off so bad- to make a smart remark and make him more annoyed, but right now he didn’t know what Robotnik would do to him. </p><p> “Good. Stone!” Robotnik barked, and the person standing behind him peaked out. </p><p> “Yes, Doctor?” The agent said in a loyal and compliant tone. As per usual.</p><p> “Get the machine running.” </p><p> When Tom and Maddie woke up, they were quite surprised to notice that Sonic wasn’t downstairs yet making a ruckus and chasing Ozzie around the house. Tom decided to go check on him, wondering if the blue devil just wasn’t feeling good this morning. He climbed up the stairs to the attic and pushed open the door, sticking his head up into the space and glancing around. </p><p> “Sonic? Bud, you in here?” He called, now fully climbing into the space. He saw Sonic’s bed was empty- which was the first red flag. The others to follow were much more sinister. </p><p> He raced downstairs, grabbing Maddie by the shoulders. “He’s gone!” He exclaimed in an insanely worried tone. </p><p> “Wh- Huh!? What do you mean ‘he’s gone’!?” Maddie asked with wide eyes as her husband was panicking. </p><p> “I <i>mean</i>, he’s gone! Not in his room! The window is wide open and there’s muddy footprints on the floor! Maddie- he’s! gone!” Tom exclaimed. “Okay! Just calm down, we won’t find him by panicking!” She said, moving her hands to Tom’s shoulders. Tom took a deep breath and let his own hands fall to his sides. “Okay. Okay, you’re right. You’re right...” He said, nodding and trying to regain control of himself. </p><p> “We- I-,” He took a deep breath. “We have to find him! We can’t just leave him out there wherever he is!”</p><p> “I know, Tom, just calm down a little and we’ll figure it out.” Maddie said, soothing him and getting him to relax. </p><p> “Okay. I’m calm. I’m fine.” He said. He wasn’t fine. But he was fine enough!</p><p> “I just- I don’t know where to start! How are we supposed to find him?” He asked, watching Maddie cross her arms over her chest and begin thinking. They both seemingly had the same idea at once, glancing over at one of the hedgehog’s quills on the couch. </p><p> They looked back at each other and nodded, practically running out to the truck that Tom had bought shortly after they all settled down again, since his old one, you know, got uhh... totaled. </p><p> They got into the truck, and Tom started it up. “We’re coming for ya, buddy.”</p><p> Robotnik grinned menacingly as a machine with a strange looking metal claw loomed over Sonic. He was struggling again, despite what Robotnik told him- it was life or death to him.</p><p> His struggling got even more desperate when the claw leaned down to his face. </p><p> “No- No, no, no, no, no, no!!” He said, squeezing his eyes shut and clenching his teeth as he awaited certain death. </p><p> But it didn’t come. Instead, the claw grabbed ahold of one of his quills and tried to pull it out. Sonic’s eyes snapped open and he glared at the machine. “Wha- Hey! Knock it off, let go ‘a me!” He growled, trying to pull away from the machine. </p><p> Robotnik huffed in frustration when the quill didn’t come out. “More pressure, Stone!” He said in annoyance. He wasn’t being patient at all with this. When the Agent applied more pressure, all that happened was more whining from the teen. </p><p> The Doctor finally just had Stone kill the power, and he walked over to the hedgehog, glaring down at him and grabbing ahold of the quill himself. Sonic tried to pull his head away, but that only hurt worse when Robotnik pulled at it. </p><p> “Get your hands off me, Eggman!” He hissed, half-closing one eye at the pain of his poor quill being pulled at. </p><p> Robotnik ignored him, noting how stuck they all seemed to be. He had a plan, though. He figured if maybe they soaked this creature in hot water and brushed through the spikes, they could possibly harvest many more. He got the plan with the idea that human hair is more prone to be pulled out or damaged when brushed wet, so that’s what they would do. </p><p> “Stone. Change of plans. I need you to fill one of our tanks with hot water.” </p><p> “Yes, Doctor.”</p><p> As Tom and Maddie drove around Green Hill, they shouted his name down gravel roads with the windows open. They kept their eyes peeled for any blue quills that may lead them to Sonic’s whereabouts. </p><p> They drive for around thirty minutes without anything, but they couldn’t give up hope. Tom parked the car on the side of the road and ran a hand through his hair before resting his head on the wheel. </p><p> “This feels hopeless.” He mumbled, staring down at the fuel gauge. </p><p> Maddie rubbed his shoulder. “We haven’t been driving too much. Come on, Tom! There’s still a bunch of hope, we can find him.” She said in an encouraging voice. Tom nodded and straightened back up. “You’re right.” He sighed, shaking off these bad thoughts and feelings that were running through his mind. </p><p> He was about to put the car into drive again- until he spotted something glittering in the grass. Tom paused immediately and locked onto it, before his heart rate picked up and he was yanking the keys out of the ignition and racing out of the truck. Maddie was confused, hopping out of the truck and running after him. </p><p> “Tom! What in the world are you doing!?” She exclaimed, before she saw him kneel down and pick up what was definitely one of Sonic’s quills. Her jaw dropped, and she dropped to her knees beside Tom. “Oh my god- This is amazing! We know he’s been here!” She said. </p><p> Tom stared at it, unable to speak but being able to nod. “Yeah- I- We’ve gotta see if there’s any more!” He said, standing up and keeping the quill safe in his pocket. </p><p> They searched on foot around that area, before being lead into the nearby woods via multiple people’s or, at least humanoid footprints. </p><p> “Holy shit, how many people have him right now!?” Tom asked rhetorically, not being able to pinpoint the exact amount of people whose footprints there were. </p><p> Maddie narrowed her eyes at something in the distance. It was really far away in the thickest parts of the woods, but she could tell it looked like a building. She tapped Tom on the shoulder and pointed, in which he squinted to see what it was. “Holy shit.”</p><p> Sonic begrudgingly walked beside Robotnik as he was being led to the tank of hot water. The only reason he wasn’t trying to escape right now is because Robotnik had him on an electric-shock leash. For just in case he did want to escape- which was obvious he did. </p><p> The mad scientist lead the hedgehog up to the standing area of the tank, where it was clear that Sonic was getting quite anxious. The water was steaming, and he could feel how hot it was just standing next to it. He felt a rope being wrapped around his leg and he instinctively began to try and pull his leg away from it- which sadly earned him a big ol’ shock. </p><p> This one brought him to his knees, a pained whine leaving him. Robotnik just grinned, watching as Stone continued to wrap his legs up in the rope. “Poor thing.” He hissed sarcastically, grabbing one of the little guy’s ears and just yanking him up by it. Sonic winced but complied, clenching his jaw shut as to not chew his ass out. </p><p> “Now, small blue rodent,” Robotnik hummed. “You’re going to take a little dip.” </p><p> Sonic tried to back up, but the doctor kicked him into the tank of hot water. He tried to suck in a good breath before he went- but it was no use. He got a big gulp of hot water halfway through his breath, causing him to choke and fight to struggle to the surface. He didn’t know how to swim, and they plunged him deep into that tank. </p><p> He panicked, bubbles of precious air coming out of his mouth as he tried to learn how to swim out of fear of possibly drowning. The water was stinging his skin- but it wasn’t boiling. Right as he physically couldn’t handle being under there any longer, they pulled him up by the rope around his ankles and held him upside down. </p><p> Sonic gasped and choked for air, but as quickly as he was out of the water, he was plunged back in. He had to keep his eyes closed or they would just get burned by the water! This was hell. Sonic’s own, personal hell. </p><p> He was left under for longer this time, despite taking in pretty much the same amount of air as last time. He really thought he was going to die when they pulled him back up. He coughed and struggled to break free of the rope, desperate to get as much air into his lungs as he could. </p><p> He was getting lightheaded, gasping quickly and as deep as he could to prevent himself from actually going unconscious. Being dangled over this hell pool was the worst thing he’d endured in a while, other than actually being submerged in it. </p><p> Robotnik grinned wickedly at the sight of the usually fearless hedgehog melting like putty in his hands. “Great! You’re finally understanding.” He taunted, grabbing the rope that held his legs together and shaking it a little purely to scare him. And scare him it did.</p><p> Sonic tensed and tried to steady himself so he wouldn’t accidentally plunge back into the water. It worked, thankfully. He wanted to be on land again- not in the air or in the water, land dammit!! </p><p> As to not waste anymore time, they went ahead to drug him back to the same room and back onto the same table. Only now, they forced him to lay on his stomach so they had better access to the power-wielding quills. The teen was silent, just stewing in his own trauma at the moment and trying to focus on anything else but the giant claw raking roughly through his fur. </p><p> It nicked his skin quite a bit, as it wasn’t trying to be gentle. It was painful, but not exactly as bad as the tank. Sonic was exhausted, but these stimulants surely weren’t going to let him sleep like this. He felt his arm getting grabbed and he furrowed his brows, trying to look as intimidating as possible at the moment without shivering or flinching. </p><p> “Let’s see what mysteries your blood holds.” The mad scientist cooed, holding a needle in one hand and Sonic’s arm in the other. He clenched his teeth and winced when the needle was stuck into the bend of his arm. </p><p> Robotnik extracted the blood and carelessly ripped out the needle before looking at it in the vial in an intrigued way. “Maybe the silly quills aren’t what we really need.” He smirked to himself, walking over to his desk and putting a bit of the blood into some test tubes. </p><p> Sonic rested the side of his head on the table and closed his eyes. “I just want my dad...” He mumbled before letting himself just pass out. </p><p> Tom and Maddie hiked through the woods to the strange structure, not knowing exactly what it was. It seemed to be a large, black building-looking structure with no apparent door. They felt around the outside just in case there was some secret door they could access- but no. No door, no nothing. Tom was getting frustrated at this point. He had a bad gut feeling and he just wanted to get the kid back before anything happened to him! Too bad he was a little too late. </p><p> “We have to get in! I’m sure he’s in there!” He said, pacing back and forth to try and think of anything they could try. It was just so confusing! There was no door, no outline of a door, nothing! It just looked like a large solid block of wood! With a couple moments of pacing, Tom frustratedly thrust his fist onto the black material to try and let his anger out. It didn’t work- well, not immediately. </p><p> Tom ran his hands through his hair, gripping the ends and taking a deep breath. Maddie put her hand on her husband’s back to try and calm him down, knowing they’d get absolutely nowhere with all of this frustration and anger.  Right when she was about to give him some words of encouragement, there was a sound coming from the building. Almost like a pressure being released, and well- that’s basically what happened. </p><p> A door shaped panel came seamlessly out of the wall, causing Tom and Maddie to just stand there in awe for a moment. </p><p> “That was <i>seriously<i> all it took?” The man grumbled, and the woman beside him simply shrugged. “Let’s just be glad we can get in!” She chimed, pulled the door open and grabbing her husband by the wrist as they ventured inside. </i></i></p><p>
  <i>
    <i> The building was only a rectangle of black, so it didn’t come as a surprise to them that there was a dark staircase leading down into the ground. They quietly descended deep into the lair, noticing how it got colder with seemingly each step they took. Tom grit his teeth, getting more angry the closer they got. They could hear voices coming from just a bit lower; light was also coming from around ten or so feet deeper- so they knew they were getting very close. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> “Splendid work, Stone!” Came an all too familiar voice- but with a bit more craze and grit to it this time around. It had been quite a while since they last heard it- and they thought they would never have to hear it again. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> “Thank you, Doctor. I figured you’d want the results as soon as possible.” A voice rang which was not too familiar, but had an edge to it- a bite of anger yet...pride. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> A raspy laugh came from the Doctor as ominous footsteps treaded around the room. “Just as I had suspected! It’s blood carries high traces of the same amount of power that the quill gave! This is much easier to obtain, all we need to do is sedate the creature and we’ll have a never ending supply! Along with the quills, we’ll be able to take over the world in a short amount of time! You and I together, Stone.” </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> Tom’s eyes widened yet his brows furrowed. What in the <i>hell</i> were they doing to his kid!? He made a risky move and peered his head over the wall that had them covered to see what was happening. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> He was a bit taken aback when he saw Sonic strapped to a table on his stomach and seemingly knocked out. He saw Robotnik glance over at the blue creature and set down the vial he was holding before walking over to him. He hummed as he observed, grabbing one of the hedgehog’s ears yet again and pulling his head up by it. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> That was the last fucking straw. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> Tom ran out from behind the wall, adrenaline coursing through his veins.</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> “Get away from the kid or I <i>SWEAR TO GOD</i> I’ll fuck you up!!” He exclaimed, reaching down for his gun- but, it wasn’t there. He looked down awkwardly and sucked in a disappointed breath. “God damnit...” </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> He looked back up and balled his hands into fists. “I’ll- I’ll still fuck you up!!” He hissed, ready to sock that son of a bitch again as Maddie came running to his side. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> Robotnik didn’t look too surprised to see him, in fact, a grin spread across his face. “Ohohoho, well, if it isn’t Mr. Tom whose dentist calls him ‘Tim’ and his little girlfriend.” He said in a rather unsurprised tone. “I’ve been expecting you. I’m honestly surprised your tiny monkey brain couldn’t find this place sooner, heh. Oh, well. I guess that just left me more time to toy around with your precious little animal here.”</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> “What have you done to him?” Tom barked, hands practically shaking in anger. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> “The details don’t matter. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have work to do.” Robotnik said and snapped his fingers, in which around six or so humanoid robots came charging out from a room to the left of them. They grabbed Maddie, and while Tom did get a good punch in on the boy holding her, two more grabbed him by the arms and apprehended him. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> “Get off!! Leave her alone!” He yelled, kicking and struggling to try and help his wife. Robotnik laughed, shaking his head. “Hah! Helpless little humans trying and FAILING to get away from my robots. How entertaining- I could watch all day! Sadly, I have more important things to get on with.” </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> He grabbed a couple of large needles and pulled up a metal table to lay them on. “Don’t you DARE touch him, you freak!” Tom exclaimed, struggling harder now that the scientist was getting closer to actually harming him again. Maddie struggled as well, looking around for any possible way to get out. It didn’t look too good for them. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> Robotnik simply ignored him, but did notice how Sonic began to wake up. He saw him move his shoulders and slowly open his eyes, and his grin only spread wider. “Wakey wakey! Look what the cat drug in!” He snickered, making Sonic look to the left and see the two. His eyes widened immediately and he tried to get up, though obviously failing. He had forgot that he was still strapped down. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> “Guys!! Wha-!? What are you doing here!?” He said, instantly awake at the sight of the robots holding them like that. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> “Don’t move! Ugh! You’re going to mess up the extraction!” Robotnik hissed, holding his arm down as the kid still tried to look and talk to Tom and Maddie. He felt the needle go in, but barely batted an eye now that his family was there. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> “How did you- Why did you-“ He had so many questions that he wanted answers to- though he realized now wasn’t exactly the best time to ask them. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> “We’re gonna get you outta here, bud, I promise!” Tom said, his eyes soft as he noticed how genuinely unnerved Sonic looked. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> Sonic trusted them, just wanting to go over there and give them a big hug. Though he wouldn’t admit that- he’s too cool for all that. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> A lot of blood was taken out of the poor little guy’s body- he was getting lightheaded and looked a little sickly. Maddie was the first to notice, being a vet and all. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> “Hey! You’re going too far!! He’s going to pass out if you keep taking much more!” She exclaimed, fighting the droids now to try and get him to stop. Robotnik grinned and pulled the last needle away from Sonic’s arm, looking at the blood in the vial. “I’m done anyway, I’ve gathered enough of what I need to power thousands and thousands of droids!” He laughed, setting down the vials and turning his attention back to Tom and Maddie. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> “Well, I suppose I don’t have any use for you two. So, buh-bye!” He grinned, waving a gloved hand at them as the robots moved to clamp their wrists so they definitely couldn’t struggle away. They were confused, looking at the droids holding them and trying to kick them away. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> Sonic weakly tried to get up, but all of his strength was practically stripped from him. “No...” He mumbled, needing to save them. Robotnik smirked, making Stone remove the machine claw that was holding Sonic to the table, then repositioning him to a forced standing position on the floor- being held up by some of the same droids that held Tom and Maddie. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> Even amidst the fear of the robots about to <i>kill</i> them, Tom was worried about Sonic.</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> “No! You let him go!! That’s my <i>son</i>!!” </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> That line. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> That line really struck something deep inside of Sonic that he had never truly experienced before. Tom referred to him as...his son. Emotion started to overwhelm him- good emotions and bad ones. Good because, Tom just referred to him as his son!! And, bad because...they weren’t going to be alive for very long after this. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> He gulped and blinked to try to stop himself from losing it. It didn’t help. Sparks of blue appeared at his fingertips and spread upwards to his back. He squeezed his eyes shut, tipping his head down and squeezing his hands into fists. It wasn’t fair... his family just accepted him as one of their own and now they were going to get ripped away from him! </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>Just... Just like Longclaw. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>No..</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>No.</i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <b>
        <i>No.</i>
      </b>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <b>
        <i>NO!</i>
      </b>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> Anger and fear was bubbling in his chest, intense waves of emotions washing over his body. Why did it have to be this way? Why wasn’t he fast enough- or strong enough to save them! When he needed them, they gave him a place in their home and saved his life, but now that they need help, he’s useless to them. Not for long. No. He wouldn’t let this crazy dude with a hunger for power ruin their lives. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> When he opened his eyes again, they were electric blue instead of the normal green- he was pissed. Robotnik knew this form all too well; it was the last thing the doctor saw before being banished to the mushroom world. In a simple move, Sonic got away from the droids and easily turned them into scrap metal. Energy coursed through his entire being, allowing him to do the things he was despite the blood loss. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> He destroyed the bots holding his family hostage and stood in front of them, his body was fighting extreme exhaustion and extreme energy at the moment- it was the strangest feeling he had ever felt. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> “You-....” Sonic took a ragged breath. “If you try to lay a <i>finger</i> on my family, you’ll be gone forever. No coming back.” </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> Robotnik wasn’t exactly too surprised, but what he was VERY surprised by was the fact that Stone stepped in front of him wielding a simple-... taser? </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> Was this almost defenseless Agent really trying to protect the mad scientist? Was he out of his mind!?</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> Well, yes. In a way. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> Stone honestly didn’t know how long it took for Robotnik to come back, mainly because everyday he kept slipping into his own type of insanity. He lived for that man when he worked for him, did everything for him and with him. He knew that Robotnik would come back, so he kept up with his droids and even had this hideout built for when he DID return- because he knew that the government wouldn’t accept him as a person anymore because, well, he technically never existed. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> The fact that Stone knew what the little rodent was capable of doing, and willingly stepped in front of him to save him, Robotnik clenched his jaw and placed a hand on his shoulder. “We need to get out of here.” He mumbled, willing to leave behind all of the power wielding substances that could make them some of the most important people of the world. All for one person. He would regret that later. Robotnik began ordering almost all of the remaining droids to be locked on Sonic, Tom, and Maddie while they made their get away. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> Good thing they didn’t have too many to wipe out, but they were going to have a couple of bruises by tomorrow. It didn’t matter- all that mattered was they were safe now with all of the stupid little robots taken down. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> Tom saw Sonic calming down from the electric surge of emotion he experienced, and was about to run over and hug the hell out of him- but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw that his son just.. collapsed on his side. He was shocked, of course, but deep down inside he sort of knew it would happen. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> Tom and Maddie raced over to him, dropping to their knees and gently elevating him into their arms. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> “Hey, buddy, can you hear me?” Tom asked, trying to coax him into opening his eyes. It worked a little, Sonic’s eyes fluttered open and glanced between the two adults. He blinked slowly, before trying to keep them open. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> “There we go! Good job, just keep breathing, Sonic, we’re gonna get you home.” Maddie said, holding one of his hands and giving it a squeeze. Her kid gazed up at her with glossy eyes, giving her hand as big of a squeeze as he could to show her he was listening. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> Tom was never the type of guy to cry or really show too much of his feelings, but seeing his kid like this- all beaten down and having the life knocked out of him really got tears in his eyes. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> He was so angry at that vile monster of a doctor for doing what he did to his son. He scooped him up in his arms and held him close to his chest. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> “We’re going home, kid.” Tom whispered, and when Sonic’s eyes slowly closed again, he looked at Maddie, who nodded softly. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> They ran up the stairs and through the forest, straight back to the truck. Maddie grabbed a blanket from the backseat and wrapped the blue devil in it while Tom gently handed him over to her.  She got into the vehicle with him and held him close to her so she could keep him stable on the drive home. Tom kept glancing over at them, making sure they were fine and not knocking around too much. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> When they finally got home, they swiftly yet carefully ran inside and kept a very very close eye on him. Tom sat with him quietly for what seemed like the rest of the day while Maddie kept checking his temperature and heart rate. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> “He’s gonna be okay, Tom, you can put him to bed if you want.” She whispered, sitting next to him and wrapping her arm around his shoulders. Tom shook his head. “I... Don’t think I physically can.” He mumbled. “Not until I know for sure he’s okay.”</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> Maddie have a soft smile, knowing how bonded the two were. She gave him a sweet kiss on the cheek as encouragement. “Just call me if you two need anything, okay?” She whispered, smoothing back some of the kid’s quills in a loving way. Tom nodded and smiled at her wearily. “Thanks, Maddie... I love you so much.” He whispered back to her, and she rubbed his shoulder. “I love you too, sweetheart..”</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> Around an hour later, Tom was dozing off, his head tipping back ever so slightly. Right about the time he was dozing, though, Sonic stirred gently. Not enough to wake up Tom, but just enough to show that he was snapping out of this deep sleep he was in. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> The first thing he felt was warmth, a soft material wrapped around him like a snuggly burrito. He felt very comfortable despite how sore he was. There was something that felt like a wall he was leaned up against- though it was a very comfy wall. He managed to open one eye and scan his surroundings. It was blurry, but he could tell he was home. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> Finally home!</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> He wanted to jump up an run across the house, chase Ozzie and bug Tom- but just the thought of running right now made his head spin. He closed his eye again until realizing that he was in the living room. He opened both of his eyes this time, but only peaking now because of the light. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> He looked up and saw Tom, who looked like he was trying to fight off the sleep demon. Sonic attempted to very gently shift to see if he could spot Maddie anywhere, but the movement caused Tom to wake up. He seemed to wake in a start and his eyes shot down to see what was happening. Now looking as if he had been awake this whole time, he sat upright and stared down at Sonic in amazement. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> “Sonic! Hey, you’re awake! How do you feel?” He asked, seeing how sleepy the kid still looked. Sonic sat up a bit but still primarily leaned against him for support. “I... I feel okay.” He nodded, relaxing as Tom held him a little closer. Maddie heard the news from just the other room and peaked her head in before a big smile spread across her face. “Sonic! Oh, sweetheart, we were so worried about you!” She said, coming to join them on the couch. The hedgehog looked up at her, smiling weakly when she came closer. She reached over and held his hand again, and he held it back like a lifeline. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> Sonic rested his head on Tom’s chest, his eyes closing yet again, but this time he wasn’t going back to sleep. “I’m glad to be back home, mom, dad...” He whispered. Tom couldn’t help the small smile on his face when Sonic said those words, swearing he wouldn’t get emotional. Maddie was a different story, tears brimming her eyes as she gently squeezed his hand. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> “We’re glad you’re back home too, son.” They whispered, and everything was right in the world. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>...</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>...</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>...</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>...</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>...</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> Robotnik and Stone cut their way through the dense forest, three or four droids helping along the way. The Doctor was quite peeved at the fact they had to abandon their lair, but at least they got away from that blue menace unscathed. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> Robotnik was grumbling to himself, pushing leaves and branches out of his way as they stumbled to a clearing. He grunted, not even knowing which way they were going.</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> “If it weren’t for that fuck up of a sherif, we could be halfway to ruling the whole world by now! They need to mind their BUSINESS before something-“</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> Stone tuned out his boss’ griping, glancing around the forest before back into the clearing. Something glittering in the light caught his eye, it looked like a piece of glass, but it was around the size of a baseball and... green. </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> “Sir.”</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> “And they wouldn’t like what I would do to them, either!”</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> “Sir!”</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> “No more holding back! The next time I get ahold of that hedgehog, I’m squeezing it until it POPS!”</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> “SIR!”</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> “WHAT!?”</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> “<i>Look.</i>”</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i> As Robotnik turned his head to the direction Stone was now pointing in, he saw it too. As they made their way over to it and picked it up, it seemed to be a perfectly chiseled emerald...</i>
  </i>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. A New Friend</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sonic and his family had settled down for the better, but what happens when they find a new friendly face that just wants to see how everything works?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tom Wachowski gripped Ozzie’s leash as he walked down the sidewalk, whistling a random tune as he watched the dog sniff and examine things such as squirrels and fire hydrants. He glanced over nonchalantly when a blue blur passed him, then two seconds later was right by his side again. </p><p> “You better be careful, one of these days you’re gonna cause a car wreck!” The man said, reaching down and ruffling the quills of the teenaged hedgehog beside him. Though Tom only allows Sonic to run on the sidewalk, he knows people who weren’t familiar with him wouldn’t exactly just ignore it. </p><p> “It’s fiiiiine, there’s no one around! Plus, they can’t even see me! I’m tooooo fast!” Sonic grinned, smoothing back his quills with a playful grumble. </p><p> It was late in the evening, the warm summer breeze washing over them as the sun began to set. “We better get home before your mother gets too worried, huh?” Tom said, checking his watch. They’d spent around an hour walking around and playing at the park, a small price to pay for a little ball of pure energy. “Fiiiiine... She should start coming with us! Then we could stay out all night!” Sonic grinned, speeding up a bit to walk beside Ozzie, resting his hand on the dog’s back. </p><p> When Tom and Maddie first introduced him to their home, it took quite a bit of time for him to get used to everything- being able to take actual baths, eating <i>hot</i> food <i>every</i> night! Not to mention having two amazing people that love him! What they didn’t take into account was how much energy their kid actually has, the first couple of days they had him he was bouncing off the walls- almost literally. He was so accustomed to going very fast every day, that when he suddenly didn’t have much to do, it made him not able to sit still. So, Tom started taking him and Ozzie out twice every day (once at 10:00 AM, and once at 4:00 PM) for around an hour each time, and they both loved it! Sonic would run around as much as he wanted, and Ozzie got the exercise that he needed! Win win! </p><p> When Tom had to work, Sonic was allowed to walk himself to the nearby park to get his energy out, but they drilled it into his brain to look both sides before crossing the street and all that- making the speedy hedgehog feel kiiiinda lame. He knew it was because they love him, though, so it didn’t bother him that much. </p><p> Maddie was all for this plan, usually staying home to clean up and have a bit of ‘me time’-... well, yoga. Sonic still doesn’t understand how she can make herself into a human pretzel- but he finds it kinda cool! </p><p> The teen’s now been here for around nine months, and it’s been five months since the incident with Robotnik, and Sonic’s been just fine! He recovered great, sure he has nightmares sometimes about being pinned to the table and dunked in steaming hot water, but err, everything else was fine! But... when he did have those bad dreams, sometimes he creeps downstairs and quietly lets Ozzie out of his kennel before snuggling up with the dog on the couch for most of the night; shortly after he falls asleep again and his dreams are peaceful. Ozzie never minds, in fact, he’d much rather sleep curled up next to his favorite blue hedgehog on the couch than in the dog kennel! So, again, win win. </p><p> Tom’s caught him sleeping like that only a mere two times, and let him get away with it on both occasions. Though, Sonic would always wake up early that morning, whisper a thank you to the old dog before putting him back in his kennel and running back upstairs to make it seem as if nothing had ever happened. He didn’t feel comfortable talking about what he saw in those dreams, so he kept it to himself. </p><p> Tom and Maddie would listen, though- if he ever wanted to talk, that is. They just want him to realize that they’re there to make him feel safe and loved. Sonic knows, for the most part, how they feel about him. Sometimes he thinks he’s being a bit annoying and tends to try and tone it down, which only causes more energy buildup for the little guy. </p><p> Back to the scene, the trio were soon home and inside. Maddie made dinner for them again, which was greatly appreciated by all. Once dinner was over though, Sonic helped his parents clean up, getting pumped for movie night. </p><p> “You sure you’re up for the movie tonight, kid? You seem to be getting a little tired.” Tom said, glancing down at his son with a quirked brow. </p><p> “Whaaat!? No way!! I wouldn’t miss the second part of Speed for anything!” Sonic said, his eyes wide with anticipation. </p><p> To the untrained eye, you might say he was making empty claims, but Tom knew what he was talking about. It was the little things he noticed that Sonic did when he was tired, because, well... he didn’t exactly behave like a normal teenager. At all. </p><p> It was the slight stretching, shoulder rolling, and face rubbing that gave him away most of the times. And tonight was one of those nights! </p><p> When they got the kitchen all clean, they made their way to the living room. Tom and Maddie knew that they weren’t going to get very far into the movie- if at all- but it didn’t matter! Spending quality time with Sonic after all of those years knowing he was alone really meant something to all of them. </p><p> “Heck yeah!! Time for Spee-“ As soon as Sonic hit the soft couch, he was out like a light- another weird sleep related thing Tom and Maddie noticed along the months. </p><p> Tom laughed softly and shook his head, looking over at his wife with a small grin. Maddie smiled and gave her husband a peck on the lips. “I knew that was gonna happen.” She whispered, and Tom nodded. “Mmhm, I tried to tell him.” He shrugged with a smile, walking over to Sonic and slowly lifting him into his arms. </p><p> “I’ll take him up to bed real quick.” He whispered, and Maddie nodded, pressing a gentle goodnight kiss to her son’s forehead before letting Tom take him up to bed. </p><p> Tom slowly made his way up the ladder, then making his way up into the room and walking to Sonic’s bed. He laid him down and pulled his blanket over him, tucking him in and gazing down lovingly and proudly at him. He glanced to the side, noticing a scribbled drawing on his nightstand. He narrowed his eyes slightly to see what it was before quietly picking it up. </p><p> It seemed rushed, as if it were done in just a few seconds, though it resembled some sort of jewel or diamond. It was red, and he didn’t know what in the world it meant. There were yellow scribbles surrounding the jewel, almost as if it were emitting some sort of power or light. Black question marks surrounded the page, as if Sonic didn’t know what it was either. </p><p> Tom shrugged it off, setting the page back down on the nightstand before walking over to the staircase and turning off the fairy lights that lit up the teen’s room. He quietly left, walking back down to spend some time with his wife. </p><p> Around an hour after Sonic had went to bed, so did Tom, Maddie, and Ozzie. All was quiet and well in the house... until it wasn’t. </p><p> Sonic began stirring, mumbling in his sleep, and his hands began to twitch. He was deep in a rather disturbing dream, his brows furrowing in worry. </p><p> In dreamland, Sonic was in complete darkness, and then he was transported to a bright and rather blinding plane that had nothing. Just a white, blank canvas. </p><p> He heard quiet voices- two, in fact. He couldn’t make out what they were saying as he looked around, but they were getting louder. Sonic’s heart dropped when he realized the voices were those of his parents’. They were calling to him, and he nearly jumped out of his skin when he turned and saw them behind him. </p><p> They were being apprehended by something he didn’t recognize- but it looked... strange. They were shouting for him to run, to get the hell out of there- but he couldn’t. He wanted to help! But as soon as he took a step towards them, a couple of loud shots rang through the white plane. </p><p> Sonic awoke with a gasp, desperately looking around and pushing himself up into a sitting position. He stared down at his lap, hands shaking as his vision started to cloud with tears. They spilled over the brim of his eyes but he quickly wiped them away. It didn’t work in getting him to stop crying, obviously so as they kept coming. A quiet sob came from him and he covered his face, not believing how weak he was allowing himself to be right now. </p><p> He took a few big breaths to try and calm himself, glancing over at the clock through teary eyes to see if it was safe to go downstairs. He did NOT want to run into his parents like this. It’s not that he didn’t want to see them- he did, actually! He wanted to hug Tom and Maddie and put an end to his worrying about them getting hurt, but he couldn’t. </p><p> It was one in the morning- perfect. He crept his way downstairs, sneaking into the living room but freezing in his position when he saw Tom, who was in the kitchen with a glass of water. </p><p> Shit. </p><p> “Sonic? Hey, bud, what’re you doing up so early?” He joked, seeing as it technically was the morning at this point. Sonic grit his teeth, glancing around to make some sort of excuse. “I was- uhh, just- getting some late night exercise...?” He fibbed with a sheepish grin. Tom raised an eyebrow at this, and finally put the pieces together. </p><p> “....Were you heading down here to hang out with Ozzie?” He asked, and Sonic was quite nonplussed at the fact that Tom knew about his coping mechanisms. </p><p> “Wh- I- How did you-“ He spluttered, ears flattening as embarrassment washed over his entire body. </p><p> Tom shrugged. “I’ve seen you a couple times. Wanna talk about it?” He suggested, and Sonic hesitantly nodded. Tom grabbed a second glass and began to fill it with water. “Go ahead and let Ozzie out and get situated on the couch, okay?” </p><p> So Sonic did just that. Ozzie was getting used to the routine of snuggles, looking forward to it whenever he would hear Sonic come downstairs, so he hopped up onto the couch and laid across Sonic’s lap when he sat down. </p><p> Tom walked into the living room and handed him the second glass of water that he had poured before, watching him take a sip before it was placed on the coffee table. Sonic gave a quiet ‘thanks, dad’ as appreciation for it, before silently running his hands through Ozzie’s golden fur. </p><p> “So, wanna tell me why you’ve been sneaking down here to have sleepovers with Oz?” Tom asked, pure curiosity in his tone. Sonic decided to try and choose his words carefully. </p><p> “Well...uhh... sometimes, I just- y’know... have... bad dreams...” He spoke slowly,  a rare thing for the blue devil. Tom listened though, he would always listen to him as long as he was willing to talk about his feelings. </p><p> Sonic found himself getting choked up again thinking about the most recent nightmare. “Uh-“ His voice shook, looking away as he saw Tom sit up a little more- worried for his son. “I had one t...tonight.” He mumbled, desperately petting the dog to try and keep himself from losing it. </p><p> “Hey, look at me, Sonic.” Tom said in a gentle tone, getting him to turn his head and look up at him. “You don’t have to talk about it, okay? But you might feel better if you get it off your chest.” He whispered. </p><p> Sonic nodded and swallowed thickly, glancing back down at Ozzie. </p><p> “I... I don’t know what was going on. It was white- really white, I could hear you and Maddie saying something, it was really quiet but it was getting louder. I turned around and you guys were behind me, I... you guys were being held like you did when Eggman did the things he did... I tried to get to you-“ Tears ran down his cheeks, his expression pretty scared and sad. </p><p> Tom noticed this, wrapping his arm around Sonic and pulling him close to himself to try and comfort his kid. “Hey, hey, no, it’s okay, take some deep breaths, kid.” He said, watching him seem to descend deeper into his own fear. He covered his face with his hands, leaning forwards slightly as his body shook with silent sobs. </p><p> “N-No- I- I’m okay! I’m not- I’m not crying, I’m not <i>weak</i>, I just-“ Sonic tried to cover it all up with the strength card, attempting to cool himself down enough to uncover his face. That didn’t work out the way he had planned. </p><p> “You’re not weak for showing your emotions, kiddo.” Tom said, rubbing his shoulder, a pang of sadness hitting his heart. He hated seeing his son like this! It was hell to him, because all he wanted to do was make things right. He heard Sonic sniffle and look up at him from between his fingers. “I-...I’m not?” He whispered, voice trembling now as he couldn’t keep it together for much longer. </p><p> Tom shook his head. “Of course you’re not weak! Everyone has emotions, it’s okay to show ‘em sometimes. You can always talk to us about what happens in your dreams when you’re ready, or, you don’t have to say anything else about it and we’ll just think about something else.” </p><p> Sonic felt reassured by this, but the rush of emotions just hit him harder. Tears poured down his fluffy face as he covered his eyes again, shaking his head as he knew how ridiculous he must look right now. </p><p> “God, I’m so stupid-“ He mumbled out in a near silent sob, not expecting or wanting Tom to hear it, but he did. Loud and clear. </p><p> So that’s why Tom scooped him up into his arms, quietly shushing him and holding him close. Ozzie sat up, tilting his head and letting his tongue comically loll out of his mouth. Sonic hugged his dad close and hid his face in the crook of his neck, shivering in fear of what the dream had made him see. </p><p> “It’s okay, it’s okay. Breathe. Everything’s going to be just fine, you have to calm down.” Tom reminded, and Sonic did just that. Trying to breathe deep, he screwed his eyes shut and attempted to calm down like his dad told him. </p><p> “Sorry- I’m sorry, I- I just, I don’t want to see you or mom get hurt, and I just- I just really care about you guys!” He spoke quickly, his quills beginning to spark and glow, prompting Tom to bring him in closer. He was careful, not wanting to get zapped by the current flowing through the hedgehog’s body. </p><p> “Sonic, listen to me, son. You’re gonna be okay, <i>we’re</i> gonna be okay, you just have to breathe.” He soothed, running a gentle yet hesitant hand through his quills and smoothing them back. Sonic’s cries were eventually dulled down to quiet tremblings as he continued to cling to him. He listened to Tom shushing him and talking quietly to him about nothing, eventually calming the sparks that had been dangerously close to becoming a problem.</p><p> His dad’s voice soothed him, so much so that he didn’t even feel himself falling asleep, he just dozed off as Tom held him. When Tom finally realized that Sonic was asleep, he looked over at Ozzie, who had his ears up but was laying down. “He’s okay, boy.” He assured the old dog as he slowly sat up; he was able to stand without waking the kid. </p><p> He took him back upstairs, thankfully the door to the attic was still open, so all he had to do was step inside. He carefully laid down the sleeping hedgehog, making sure he was in a comfortable position before tucking him in again and very gently rubbing his shoulder as a way to say ‘good night, and I love you.’ quietly. </p><p> He was hesitant to leave, the image of his scared face playing through his mind- but he knew he needed to let him rest for the night. </p><p> Tom made his way back downstairs, closing the door to the attic and put Ozzie back to bed as well. Eventually, he put himself back to bed and slept soundly for the rest of the night. </p><p> It was only four hours before Tom woke back up, but he wasn’t exhausted like he thought he would be. He stretched his arms slightly before reaching over blindly to snuggle up to his wife, only to find she was gone. He lifted his head confusedly before realizing it was Sunday. He sighed, remembering she always did yoga really early in the morning on Sundays. </p><p> He lugged himself out of bed around fifteen minutes later, rubbing sleep from his eyes as he met up with Maddie when she was coming inside from her exercise. She smiled upon seeing him in his PJ’s and clearly sleepy. “Good morning, love, how did you sleep?” She cooed, pressing a kiss to his cheek. Tom returned the favor, talking as he began making coffee. </p><p> “Well, pretty good. Last night around one or so in the morning I got up to get some water ‘n I saw Sonic in the living room. Turns out he had a nightmare and was going to chill out with Ozzie for a while. Buuuuut I talked with him and got him to fall asleep again, so I call it a win.” He said, now leaning the back of his legs against the counter as he put his hands on it from behind to watch her. </p><p> “Oh my- Poor thing...” Maddie said with a saddened, worried expression. </p><p> “Nah, I’m okay just a little sleepy-“</p><p> “Tom.”</p><p> “Yeah, babe?”</p><p> “I meant our son.”</p><p> Tom blinked as he saw Maddie’s now deadpan expression. He chuckled awkwardly. “Yeah- I knew that! Obviously I was joking.” He said, pouring himself some coffee and pretending to be very busy making it the way he likes it. </p><p> Maddie rolled her eyes with a playful smile as she pulled out some ingredients for breakfast. They both turned their heads when they heard a certain someone coming down the ladder. Sonic came into the kitchen, rubbing one of his eyes sleepily before spotting his mom. </p><p> “Maddie!” He exclaimed, a bright and energetic smile on his face as he hugged her legs. This was one of the few things he hated about being so much shorter than them. She smiled and picked him up, holding him so they could be at eye level with each other. “Hi, honey!” She cooed, feeling him hug her in a better position now. </p><p> “I heard you had a nightmare last night.” Maddie said, smoothing back his quills in a very motherly fashion. Sonic glanced over at Tom before averting his gaze to the floor. “I mean- It’s no biggie, nothing we couldn’t handle, right Tom!” He said, giving him a big thumbs up, and the man gave him one back as he sipped his coffee. </p><p> Sonic tried to push out the memory of the embarrassing panic attack he had last night, instead thinking about stuff that he liked. Um, Tom and Maddie, running around, Ozzie, the color blue, his beanbag- Yep! He felt better now. </p><p> Maddie set him down, ruffling the fur on his head. “You sure you’re okay, sweetie?” She asked, and Sonic nodded, smiling up at her. “Uh huh!” He then gasped, getting an idea. “Mom! You should come with us to the park this morning!” He said, eyes wide with youthful excitement. Maddie smiled softly. “I would, Sonic, but I have to make some phone calls for your dad.” She said, shooting a look at Tom, who tilted his head. </p><p> “Ohh-“ He said, before giving a sheepish laugh. “Listen, I thought I could fix it, okay!!” </p><p> Maddie rolled her eyes with a giggle as Sonic looked at them confusedly. “Fix what?” He asked, sitting down at the table and swinging his legs back and forth. “He tried to fix the bathroom sink, remember? Water started to spew everywhere and he tried to hide it from me?” Maddie explained as Tom hid his face in his coffee cup. Sonic laughed, looking over at his dad and only laughing harder. </p><p> “I do remember that now!” He giggled, shaking his head as he pictured the water flowing everywhere and how Tom’s face must’ve looked. </p><p> They made breakfast (which was pancakes and scrambled eggs, by the way), and after eating they cleaned up the kitchen before Tom and Sonic began getting ready for their walk to the park. </p><p> Tom got Ozzie’s leash and hooked it to his collar. The dog seemed just as excited as Sonic did to go on their walk, so Tom gave Maddie a quick kiss before they headed out. </p><p> “Bye, mom!” Sonic called out as they were halfway out the door. </p><p>“Bye, sweetheart! Have fun!” Maddie called back, waving to them as they walked off. </p><p> Sonic looked around with a big smile on his face, feeling a bit more chipper than usual- and he was always quite happy! Tom made sure Ozzie stayed on the sidewalk as they were making their way to the park, finally arriving after about ten minutes. </p><p> Sonic was off like a rocket, running around and getting some of that endless energy out. Tom let Ozzie off of his leash for a while, knowing the old dog wouldn’t try and run off. It didn’t take long before Sonic had run step-marks into the dirt track, so he decided to give it a break for a little bit and cool down in the grass. He was about to plop down before something shiny caught his eye. It looked like glass, but it was around the size of a baseball and it looked- well, kinda cool! </p><p> He carefully picked it up, not knowing if there was any sharp edges or bits on it like actual pieces of glass. He narrowed his brows, concentrating on it hard for a couple of seconds before recklessly holding it above his head to show Tom. </p><p> “Look what I found!” He exclaimed, a childish grin on his face as he waved it in the air. Tom looked over at him as Ozzie was standing up to go run to the kid after seeing him wave his hands around. </p><p> Tom couldn’t really see what he was holding, so he got up and began walking over to him. “What is it?” He called, keeping an eye on both him and Ozzie. “I dunno!! But, it kinda makes me feel weird.” Sonic confessed, staring down at it. It felt... familiar, almost like a deja vu sort of feeling. “Oh! I think I saw it in a dream once, but it doesn’t look as big, or as... sparkly, I guess.” When Tom got up close to him, he noticed something. It looked like a red diamond, but it honestly could be anything, just shaped that way. </p><p> “Let me see?” Tom suggested, holding out his hand, and Sonic plopped the gem-shaped item onto his palm. The man studied it quite like the hedgehog had just minutes before, furrowing his brows and turning it in all different ways. “Huh, that’s... kinda weird.” </p><p> Maddie shook her head in annoyance as she was put on hold. “How can a family owned business put me on hold!?” She mumbled to herself, wondering if they were really that busy. She paced around the house, her eyes widening as someone was able to answer her questions- thirty minutes later, of course.</p><p> “Hello! Yes- Uh huh, yeah. My husband tried to do some odd jobs around the house, I bet you get a lot of those calls-“ She cut herself off when she heard a knock at the door, listening to the woman speaking as she went to answer it, nodding as she was just about to tell the woman she had a visitor when she pulled open the door. </p><p> Who she saw was a big shock to her. </p><p> She didn’t know this person- a-animal? </p><p> It was a brightly colored orange fox, baring striking resemblance to her son- well, not in the species or color category, obviously. Her jaw dropped and her eyes went as wide as saucers, not even hearing the woman say over and over, “Ma’am? Ma’am, are you there?”</p><p> “I’ll... call you back.” Maddie mumbled, clicking the off button on her phone. All the while, she didn’t break eye contact with the furry little guy. </p><p> “Uh- Hi! Does Sonic live here?” A young sounding voice asked, and Maddie wondered how in the world this kid knew her son’s name. </p><p> “Um... why? Who- I- Who are you?” She asked, putting her hands up confusedly and furrowing her brows. </p><p> “It’s a long story, buuuut to sum it up, Longclaw raised me and told me about Sonic! She told me of his power and why he had to leave, and I’ve been trying to find him ever since. I know he’s around here, I’ve tracked the last time one of his unique bursts of power happened! Which waaaass...” The kid trailed off, checking something on a device that he was holding. “Last night!”</p><p> Something about this kid’s story seemed genuine- wait... Longclaw... that sounded familiar. Oh! Yeah, of course, Longclaw was the owl that took care of Sonic when he was a baby! Holy shit- Holy SHIT!</p><p> Sonic was tossing the weirdly diamond-shaped item as they walked home, being as careful as one could tossing it all over the place could possibly be. Tom didn’t know what it was, so he just kinda let him. “It is kinda weird how I saw something like this in a dream and I found it.” Sonic mumbled in thought. He suddenly gasped. “Do you think now when I dream of food I’ll just find it!?”</p><p> Tom laughed at this, giving his son a look that consisted of a raised brow and a smile. “That’s called dumpster-diving.” He joked as he held the door open for Sonic and Ozzie to go inside. Sonic didn’t seem too familiar with the term, tilting his head as he walked inside. “Is that like a swim move or something?”</p><p> Tom was about to explain what it meant when his eyes met Maddie’s. She was sitting at the table, now with the little fox as they were talking more on how he knew Sonic. Just like Maddie’s had done before, his jaw dropped, and Sonic noticed before seeing the fox. “What? What is it-“ </p><p> Once he locked eyes with the orange little dude, he was awestruck. This guy looked like he was from his original planet! </p><p> He zipped over to him, eyes practically sparkling with confusion, shock, surprise, excitement, and more! The fox stood up, sharing the same emotions upon meeting the legend that Longclaw told him about. “Hi! My name’s Tails, I’ve heard so much about you!” Tails said, holding out his hand, in which Sonic excitedly shook it. </p><p> “Wow! I- You look like me!! Well, not like me, but- You know what I mean!” He laughed, marveling at him. “Ha- I’m finally taller than someone!” </p><p> Tails hummed at this, noticing how he indeed was about three inches smaller than the other- though he was undoubtedly much younger. </p><p> “Anyway! Tails, what’s this you said about knowing about me? I’ve only ever lived in two places and and I’ve only ever interacted with one owl on that planet...” He admitted, before suddenly getting the realization. “Wait-...”</p><p> The fox nodded, a sheepish smile on his face. “Yeah... She told me all about you. She said that you were born with speed unmatched by any other living thing!” He said, noticing how Sonic seemed shocked about the simple fact of acknowledging Longclaw. Tails seemed confused on this, tilting his head as Sonic looked away to gather his thoughts and questions. He often got a little scatterbrained when overwhelmed with emotions like this. </p><p> “Wow- I mean-... I thought she...died.” The hedgehog said, rubbing the side of his arm awkwardly. Tails nodded, remembering how she told him about that day. </p><p> “She found me five years after you had to leave... She said that one of the hardest things she’s ever had to do was let you go, you know.” Tails said, watching Sonic look back at him again. “Really? I can’t believe she remembers me...” </p><p> “She does! I always ask about you, and she remembers like, everything about you!” He chuckled, causing Sonic to smile a little. </p><p> After a bit more catching up and explaining everything to everyone, Tom, Maddie, Sonic, and Tails were sitting at the table and talking about more things. “So, I’m guessing you came here with the rings?”  Sonic said, tapping his fingers on the table and moving his feet back and forth since they obviously don’t touch the ground. </p><p> “Uh huh! And I used this device to track your power output to pinpoint what world you were on!” Tails said, pulling out the device he had shown to Maddie earlier. “Woah- Did you make that?” Sonic asked, surprised at how smart this kid seemed for being so young. </p><p> “I did! I build a lot of things and research many different planets and places.” He said, putting the device away. Sonic got an idea, running off to where he had set down the glass-looking item and coming back in a matter of seconds. </p><p> “You seem to know a lot about stuff, so can you tell me what this thing is?” He asked, handing it over to Tails, who gasped, handling it very carefully. “This is a chaos emerald! They’re VERY powerful and can be very dangerous! Where did you find this?” He asked, looking back up at Sonic, who blinked. “It was laying in the grass at the park.” He explained, watching Tails check it out to make sure there were no chips or cracks before handing it back to Sonic. </p><p> “I’d keep it safe somewhere no one can find it and use it for bad intentions. I’ve heard a tale that says if you get all seven, something magical happens. I have one too! But, I’ve never seen more than one in real life. Until now!” He said, pulling out a yellow chaos emerald and holding it up to the red one. Sonic moved a little at the presence of two at once. “Do they make you feel a little bit... weird?” He asked, looking at Tails and then back at the emerald. </p><p> “They act as a power building substance, and I know that you must be storing energy like a powerhouse, so I bet when you’re near them, it makes you feel a lot more power than what you’re used to!” He explained, and Sonic just blindly nodded. “I don’t know what you just said, but yeah!” He laughed. </p><p> Tom and Maddie were quietly discussing what in the world they should do, remembering run-ins with people that wanted to hurt their son. They were just trying to be precautious, but since this little guy knew who Longclaw was and got all of his stories from her, they were prompted to trust him more. </p><p> “Well, uh- Tails, why did you want to meet Sonic? Was it just because what Longclaw said?” Tom asked, just genuinely curious. “Well, I found out who he was because of Longclaw, so in a way, I guess you could say that? But, I also wanted to find him because of a few different reasons! One was because I wanted to make sure he was alive for her sake, and another was because no other being on any planet I’ve researched has as much power as I’ve seen Sonic be able to produce- let alone not perish from the process! It’s just- extraordinary!” Tails concluded, smiling a bit over at everyone. </p><p> The two humans were quite shocked at his vocabulary, sharing a confused yet weirdly amazed glance between each other. “I- Wow- How old are you again?” Tom asked, cocking his head in disbelief. </p><p> “I’m 8 years old!” Tails said rather proudly, and Sonic’s jaw would’ve fell to the floor if it could. “You’re EIGHT?” He exclaimed, eyes wide as he sat up in his chair. Tails nodded, shrugging it off. “No big deal.” He said, watching as Sonic still thought it was a big deal- for obvious reasons. </p><p> “I- You’re <i>eight</i>! I’m fifteen and I don’t know half the stuff you know!” He protested, wondering if this kid just spent his whole life studying and studying. Tails shrugged yet again. “It doesn’t matter how much you know, you don’t <i>need</i> to know all the stuff I’ve studied about if you don’t find it interesting. I like to build and create!” </p><p> “I guess I was never really interested in all that... Have you ever built anything that can go really fast?” Sonic asked with a grin, putting his elbows on the table and resting his chin on his hand. </p><p> “Weeeell, I didn’t <i>build</i> it, per say, but I did add on to it! It’s a plane that can reach speeds of up to 300 miles per hour! Err... I hypothesize it could anyway... I haven’t been able to test it out; Longclaw says it’s too dangerous. I respect that, but I wish- just once- that I could fly it around.” He explained, sitting back in his seat as he seemed to quickly daydream about the subject. </p><p> “Wow! A plane that can travel up to 300 miles per hour, that’s impressive!” Sonic said, especially noting how young this kid is. “Thanks! I spend a lot of my time working on it and researching the emeralds, actually.” The fox said, looking down at his own yellow gem. </p><p> “Man, if just one of these things got into the wrong person’s hands, it would be really bad.” </p><p> Somewhere far, but not too far away, in a remote and undisclosed location, Robotnik and Stone were plotting. They were on the hunt for these little gems, using a power-reader quite like Tails’ to try and locate them. Robotnik has gotten more supplies and constructed more robots who would do his bidding and go on to build things that he needed done, like a new lair. This one was made out of scrap metal and trees, of course. </p><p>The Badniks would often go out and steal a LOT of supplies that the Doctor needed to make his machines with- such as chemicals, metal of course, and other miscellaneous items needed for the droid’s faux-consciousnesses. </p><p> Robotnik is obviously a very smart man, and every challenge that has faced him so far, he’s been able to rework it to his advantage. He was learning, adapting, and revising with every obstacle. </p><p> This was a good thing for him, everyone else, not so much. </p><p> Since they had found that emerald, Robotnik was able to measure how much energy was emitting from it- and boy was it a lot. It had more energy than those stupid quills he was chasing before, and if there was one of these emeralds, there had to be at least a few more, right?</p><p> He sat at his little make-shift desk, brows furrowed in a concentrated state as he carefully placed the gem into a slot, which was able to power up everything that was connected to it immediately. The things connected to it, you ask? Well, the entire lighting system, five droids that needed power, and the electric box- which pretty much meant, well, everything that was connected to the box. From Badniks to outlets, that tiny gem was able to power it up. Even when Robotnik took the gem from the slot, everything was still able to be powered up for quite a while!</p><p> This much power told Robotnik that he could power something very large with it. So, he got to work. He pulled out blueprints and sketched design after design, wanting to push the limits of the emerald to go as big as he could. </p><p> He would go all night with these plans if he could, but Stone had to stop him every once in a while to make sure he ate and drank, and occasionally slept for maybe an hour at a time. </p><p> “You should sleep, Sir.” Stone said, peering over his shoulder as he watched him crumple up another blueprint. Robotnik shook his head, a mad grin on his face as he pulled out another sheet. “Dominating the world does not call for sleep, Stone! I need to figure out the perfect machine capable of withstanding anything! No blue little SHIT will stand in my way, I’ll make this machine able to withstand a nuclear <i>bomb</i> if I have to.”</p><p> Stone hummed quietly, watching him draw out yet another large design. “Well, don’t you think that you would function better with at least a few hours of sleep? It’s clinically proven that sleep helps with focus and creative flow.” </p><p> Robotnik paused, considering it for a moment before tapping the back of his pen on the sheet. He looked up to see Stone, who was standing at his side with a rather blank expression before standing up. “I suppose you’re correct on those things... the last thing I need is for my work to be compromised!” He exclaimed before walking himself to bed. </p><p> Agent Stone is the only person who can actually get through to Robotnik anymore. Before, he wouldn’t even be able to take anything Stone had to say into consideration, but now that they only had each other, they really grew a bond. An evil, almost twisted bond, but a bond nonetheless. </p><p> It only took three hours of sleep before Robotnik was up and ready to start his evil plans again, and he was right back to his desk. When he was blueprinting, Stone took over the search for more of those powerful emeralds, but was coming up short. He took breaks frequently to bring the Doctor some water and coffee to keep him going. </p><p> They were working in perfect sync with each other, getting everything they needed done, done! </p><p> Robotnik slowly pulled his hands away from this blueprint, a wicked and mad smile spreading across his face. “Agent Stone, I believe I have the perfect design.” He mumbled, looking over his shoulder. His assistant was by his side in a split second, glancing over the paper. </p><p> “It looks amazing, Doctor.” He grinned, looking back at his boss’s face. Robotnik chuckled menacingly. “Doesn’t she? I need you to send the babies to gather as much metal as possible. This droid is going to need a lot of it.” </p><p> “Yes, Doctor.”</p><p> As the afternoon rapidly approached, Sonic and Tails were out playing with Ozzie in the yard; Tom and Maddie were talking about what to do with the little fox. </p><p> “We can’t just boot him out, that’s awful! He’s eight years old!” Maddie said, and Tom nodded. “I know, but do you really want him staying <i>here</i>? I mean, we just met him!” He said as he tapped his fingers on the table in thought. </p><p> “He’s never been to Earth before! This is all so new to him! He came here to find Sonic, and I don’t think he’s a threat. We can let him stay in the guest room for a little bit.” Maddie smiled, sipping her coffee and watching her husband think on that proposal. </p><p> “I... Yeah, okay, I guess you’ve got a point. Letting him stay here for a while wouldn’t be the end of the world, but! I‘m still gonna keep an eye on him, just in case...” The man said, glancing out the window to see them playing ball with the dog. </p><p> “Aww, who’s gettin’ all protective over his son~?” Maddie cooed, resting a hand on her husband’s knee, who huffed and crossed his arms. “I am not! Just-..... okay, fine maybe a little bit. It’s for the best, though! Just to be sure! He’s already had a lotta shit happen with him, I just wanna make his life as good as it can be. No more danger.” </p><p> Maddie smiled sadly, patting Tom’s knee supportively. “I know, but everything’s going to be okay. You don’t have to worry anymore, alright? He’s fine.” She reminded, and Tom nodded a bit, looking back over at her with a tiny smile. “Thanks, Madds, I love you so much..” He said, placing his hand over her’s and holding it. Maddie smiled lovingly at him and squeezed his hand. “I love you too, Tom, I love you a lot...”</p><p> Sonic and Tails were having a lot of fun, contently throwing the ball for Ozzie as they watched the dog run after it. “So this is an earth dog? Huh! They look so strange! But, humans do too, so I can’t really say anything there.” Tails said, bending down and petting the old pup along the back and on his head once he had come back with the ball. Sonic nodded, sitting down in the grass and watching Ozzie roll over. “Yep! They’re <i>suuuuper</i> fluffy! Especially when you wash ‘em and blow dry ‘em! Then they get really POOFY!” He laughed, watching as Tails rubbed the dog’s belly with a mesmerized look. </p><p> “He’s so cute...” He said, sitting down as well to get a better angle to give him more effective belly scratches. He was almost in a trance at how adorable Ozzie was being, his tongue lolling out of his mouth as he panted happily with the rubs. Sonic smiled at this, moving his feet a little bit in the normal childish way as he picked a tiny flower and looked at it. It was so small- possibly the smallest flower he had ever seen! </p><p> “You know, there’s still so many things about Earth that I don’t know yet, and I’ve been here for ten years! I don’t know how a lot of things here work, like why people have the jobs they do, or what a lot of other places here even look like! It seems like I find something new about the Earth every day, and I’m not complaining. Tom, the guy in the house, he’s a sheriff! I call him Doughnut Lord because the only things he seems to punish around here are doughnuts,” Sonic giggled, “And Maddie, the lady in there, she’s something called a ‘vet-er-nair-eean’ I don’t really know how to say it, but she’s an animal doctor! I call her Pretzel Lady sometimes because she has no bones!”</p><p> Tails was caught off guard by that last comment, looking over at him with a shocked, confused, and disbelieving face. “Wait- What? She has no <i>bones</i>?” He asked, finding it really hard to believe.  </p><p> “Well, she says she has bones, but she makes herself fold like a lawn chair, so it wouldn’t surprise me if her bones were made out of rubber!!” Sonic said, setting down the tiny flower and standing up. Tails hummed, not really believing that her bones were made out of rubber, but considering it anyway. He didn’t know anything about humans, so maybe that really would be the case.</p><p> “So what does Tom do as a sheriff, besides ‘punish doughnuts’?” He asked with a giggle, sitting back and looking over and up at Sonic. The hedgehog tapped his chin in thought. “Well, he directs traffic for ducks sometimes. Oh, and he pulls people over when they’re going too fast.” </p><p> “That’s understandable, I guess. There’s a lot of humans- I’ve seen like 20 already! So I bet when you have a bunch of them, it’s better to make sure they don’t all get hurt. He must be brave!” Tails said, looking up to the sky as he thought about this. Sonic nodded. “Yeah! Exactly! He’s a real good guy.” He said with a smile on his face. He really likes talking about his parents and how amazing they are, because to him, they’re the most important people in the world! </p><p> “You seem to be really close to them, how’d they even find out about you? Longclaw said that you needed to be careful with your power, and never let anyone see you!” Tails asked, scratching behind Ozzie’s ears now. </p><p> “It’s a really long story, but to sum it up, I used to live alone, never having any contact with any human- besides a guy we call Crazy Carl, but I went to a baseball field one night and I got kiiiinda emotional, so POW, lightening, then BOOM, power outage, and then the government was after me, so I went to Doughnut Lord’s house and he shot me with a tranquilizer dart! Yada yada yada, this guy named Robotnik or whatever tried to kill me, we banished him to the mushroom world, people knew about me and thankfully didn’t kill me, he came back and almost killed my family, but then he fled-... so, we’re good.” Sonic mumbled that last part, picking at the fibers on his gloves. </p><p> Tails nodded along to his story, listening to the whole thing. “Wow... your life kind of sounds like a movie.” He chuckled softly, trying to lighten the mood. Sonic laughed at that, shaking his head. “Nahh, that wouldn’t be very interesting. At least, not as much as my favorite movie, Speed!” </p><p> “What’s that?” Tails asked innocently. </p><p> “Oh. My. God. Come on, we have to get you caught up on Speed!” He said and ran normal speed into the house. Tails scrambled to his feet and followed him, calling Ozzie to let him know he should come in too. “Tom! Maddie! Tails has never heard of Speed!” The hedgehog exclaimed, looking up at both of the people. </p><p> “Yeah, buddy, I’m not surprised. Speed is an Earth thing, remember?” Tom said, ruffling up the quills on the top of his head. Sonic sighed, remembering a life without Speed. “I know... sadly...”</p><p> So that’s how Ozzie, Tails, and Sonic ended up on the couch and watching what Tails now agrees is the best movie ever. Ozzie was flat out asleep and snoring on the fox, while Tails was only half asleep. It’s not that the movie was boring, it’s just the day they’ve had today! Plus, he’s only eight, his little kid body didn’t suit well with long and physical days. Sonic was just full of energy, but he didn’t try to bother Tails, knowing that he might benefit from a little bit of sleep. </p><p> While Tails was slipping into a peaceful unconsciousness, Sonic couldn’t keep himself from sitting still. His leg was bouncing to burn off energy since he hadn’t got to run for the second time yet. It didn’t bother him, though, he was just happy to watch the ending of Speed! </p><p> Tom came in to see that Tails and Ozzie we’re now fast asleep, then over at Sonic as he looked like he was about to burn a hole through their flooring with that leg bouncing. “Hey, bud. You okay?” He asked in a whisper just loud enough for Sonic to hear. </p><p> “Yeah! I’m great! We watched Speed!” He said, standing up and tapping his foot on the floor instead. “I feel- I don’t know! Ready!” </p><p> “Ready for what?” Tom asked in a confused tone. “Anything!” Sonic said, a big smile on his face as his eyes were full of excitement. </p><p> That evening, Maddie noticed that both Tails and Ozzie were still asleep on the couch. It was really adorable, I mean come on! Practically a <i>baby</i> fox asleep with their dog laying on him? What’s there not to be a fan of? </p><p> She tip toed over to him and sat down on the couch next to him, wanting to move him to a way more comfortable and quiet environment. She gently rubbed his shoulder, in which his ears perked up and he slowly opened his eyes, seeming confused about where he was and why it was suddenly so dark. “Hi, Tails,” Maddie whispered, “Sorry to wake you up, but we have a guest room for you to sleep in instead of the couch.”</p><p> She was keeping her tone down and soft, which only seemed to make Tails sleepier, though he tried not to show it. “N...No, I’m not- I’m not even sleepy...” He blatantly lied, in which Maddie smiled softly, raising a brow as she watched him attempt to keep his eyes open. </p><p> “...on second thought, I am just...a liiiittle but tired... not too tired though...” </p><p> So that’s how Tails spent his first night with the Wachowski’s! Snuggled up in a warm comfy bed surrounded by throw pillows in a comfortingly quiet spot in the house. He heard crickets outside, reminding him of home and easing his worries about Longclaw. </p><p> These people are very nice, he decided. He hadn’t suspected them not to be, they are taking care of Sonic, after all! Their presence just gives off nothing but warmth and kindness, as cliche as that sounds, it’s true! </p><p> While Tails was falling asleep, Tom had taken Sonic out for a quick run. The little blue blur understood that Maddie needed to stay at the house just incase, although being a tiny bit bummed that she couldn’t come with them tonight- there was always next time! Maybe her AND Tails could come with them in the morning! That would be nothing short of amazing! </p><p> “Did Tails tell you he can fly?” Sonic asked with an awe-filled look on his face accompanied by that same smile he always sports. </p><p> Tom looked a little surprised as he glanced down at his son. “What? No, how in the world can he fly?” He asked, brows knitting together as they walked back home. It was getting substantially darker by the minute, so they had just decided to go back. </p><p> “He showed me! He spins his tails around real fast and he flies! It’s crazy cool!” Sonic said excitedly. Tom hummed in thought, wondering how that could actually work-... it’s probably better not to think about it too much. </p><p> They got home safe and quietly, walking in the house. Maddie was sitting on the couch when she heard them come inside the house. She smiled over at her boys and patted the couch beside her, in which Sonic sat down on her right side and Tom took a seat on her left. </p><p> “How are my boys doing, huh?” She asked with a smile on her face as she held Tom’s hand and wrapped her arm around her son. </p><p> “Tired.” Tom joked lightly while looking over at Sonic. The teen then gasped dramatically. “You may be tired, old man! But me? No way! Never tired.” He joked back and leaned into his mom’s embrace. </p><p> Maddie looked at the clock on the wall and hummed. “It’s 8:15, honey, it’s almost past your bedtime.” She said with a chuckle. Sonic looked over at the clock as well and sighed. “Yeahhh...” He sighed playfully and repositioned himself to give his mom a side-hug. “Night, mom! Night, Doughnut Lord!” He teased and ran upstairs. </p><p> Tom laughed softly and shook his head, kicking his feet up on the coffee table and wrapping an arm around his wife. “He sure is somethin’ else.” </p><p> Maddie laughed quietly as she leaned into him. “You’re certainly not wrong.” She sighed in contentment. “Today’s been crazy, huh?” Tom asked as he stole a glance over at the guest bedroom door, which was closed because of the guest sleeping in it. Maddie nodded, looking up at her husband. “Yeah, it really has.” She hummed with a soft smile. </p><p> That night, everyone slept soundly. Everyone except for Robotnik and Stone, who were up building and having their droids steal more and more metal. They needed at least five days to complete the droid, but once it was built, there was likely no stopping them! </p><p> Their plan was almost perfect, if they could just get anymore of those emeralds, there would be absolutely no way they would be stopped. </p><p> In the morning, Tom’s phone was ringing so much it could’ve vibrated off the bedside table. He groaned sleepily and reached over for it, almost knocking over the lamp and the alarm clock. He grabbed it and squinted at the caller ID, huffing before answering. </p><p> “Wade, what the hell?” He sighed out, sitting up and stretching his back before walking out onto the deck so he wouldn’t disturb his wife too much. </p><p> “Listen, there’s been a massive robbery in the Steel Factory, Larry’s freaking out!” Wade said, and just by his tone, Tom could tell he didn’t know what to do. He pinched the bridge of his nose and gathered his thoughts quickly before nodding. “Okay! Okay, I’ll be out there as soon as I can. Just calm down will ya?” He said, and hanging up before he could hear anymore of his worried ramblings. </p><p> He checked the time on his phone- 7:47 AM. Great. Just fantastic! </p><p> Tom walked back inside and saw that Maddie was now sitting up and rubbing her eyes sleepily. “Tom? Who in the world was that?” She asked, leaning over to look at the alarm clock. “Wade, he said there was a robbery at the Steel Factory, so I’m gonna have to go check it out.” He said and set his phone down before dragging his uniform out of the closet. </p><p> Her brows furrowed in confusion, not understanding why anyone would logically need to rob a metal production plant. </p><p> “Weird...” She mumbled as Tom got dressed. “I know, trust me, I’m just as confused as you are. Hopefully I’ll get some answers, though.” He sighed, running a hand through his hair and looking over at Maddie as she got up as well. </p><p> They walked out of their bedroom and found Sonic and Tails already awake and quietly talking on the couch. Sonic was the first to see them walk out, and he waved at them with a huge grin on his face. “Morning!!”</p><p> Tom gave him a sleepy wave as he made some coffee. “Morning Sonic, morning Tails.” He said, just drinking his coffee black as he didn’t have time to put any milk or sugar in it. </p><p> “That’s what Tom wears to his job!” Sonic said, and Tails ‘woah’ed in awe. The little fox found it really amazing that these humans have such interesting jobs! They didn’t have anything like that back at their home planet, seeing as nothing really went too wrong there. </p><p> “Wait, where are you going?” Sonic asked in confusion, noticing how hurried he seemed. “Well, there’s been a big robbery at a factory, I gotta go as soon as I can.” Tom explained as he set down the coffee and grabbed his keys. Sonic gasped and sat up. “Can we go!?” He asked, eyes wide with pure energy. </p><p> Tom smiled a bit over at his son. “Sorry, buddy. I’m gonna be really hands on today, I’ll let you guys go with me when things are a little slower, alright?” </p><p> The two were happy with that answer, both giving a ‘hooray!’ in victory at their bargain. Tom laughed in amusement at their silly natures, kissing his wife goodbye and waving to the kids as he left out. </p><p> He drove straight to the factory, getting out and walking inside to see a very flustered and frustrated Larry, the owner of the building. “Wachowski! There you are!” He exclaimed, running over to him and grabbing his shoulders. “I’ve been ROBBED! Hundreds of sheets of metal, GONE! You have to find this person! Who goes around stealing steel!?” He exclaimed, and Tom slowly lowered the man’s hands from his shoulders. </p><p> “Larry- Larry! It’s gonna be fine, you just need to calm down, okay? I’m gonna figure it out. Do you have any security camera footage we can take a look at?” Tom asked calmly, and Larry suddenly looked like he had a lightbulb over his head. “The cameras! Yes, of course! Come, follow me!” He said, ushering Tom into the offices before sitting down in an office chair. He pulled up the camera feed on the dinosaur of a monitor and pressed play on yesterday’s video. </p><p> Everything seemed normal, Larry closed up shop and left afterwards, they sped it up two hours before the feed got fuzzy and eventually cut out. Both Larry and Tom were extremely confused. </p><p> Larry scrambled to try and figure out what the hell made it cut out like that. Tom scratched his head in confusion, watching as Larry replayed the footage to try and see if anything could actually be seen on the screen. </p><p> “Wait-“ Tom said, and Larry quickly paused it. “Right there, do you see that?” He pointed to the screen and discovered a sliver of their culprit. “What in the world...” </p><p> Neither of them could figure it out, it was just a rounded silver object from what they could see, but that didn’t explain why it made the video feed cut out the way it did. It had to of been flying or dangling- it just didn’t make sense because the cameras were so high off the ground! </p><p> “Do you have any other cameras we can look through the feed of? Maybe it’ll give us some more clues.” Tom suggested, and Larry pulled up the second and last camera’s file. “The feed only goes to 12 AM, the same as the last one.” The old man grunted and pressed play. The same thing happened, Larry left, two hours later it began to get fuzzy and shut off. Though, when slowed down this time, a strange red laser could be seen a mere millisecond before the feed cut out. </p><p> “This doesn’t make any damn sense!” Larry said, getting even more infuriated by the minute. Tom patted his shoulder. “Just take a deep breath, we’ll figure it out.” He assured. “Let me go talk to my partner for just a second, okay?” </p><p> So Tom walked out to his car and sat in the seat with the door still open. He dialed Wade’s number and tapped his foot against the floorboard, sighing as it took several rings for him to actually pick up. “Tom! Did you figure out who did it?” He asked with a bewildered tone. </p><p> “No, Wade, I didn’t figure it out. I’ve only been here for like 15 minutes! Anyway, we looked through the security footage, but it had been cut two hours after Larry left. We had two perspectives, but they were cut at the exact same time!” He said, and Wade hummed on the other line. </p><p> “Are there any outside cameras? That could let you see if any trucks pulled in.”</p><p> “No, he only has two inside..”</p><p> “Well, have you looked for footprints?” He asked. </p><p> “Wh- Huh? Footprints? How would there be any footprints? And- I don’t see why we would NEED to look for them in the first place.” Tom said in a truly confused tone. </p><p> “...What if it’s not a person?” Wade mumbled, biting the end of his pen </p><p> “Okay, Wade- You’re talking crazy right now-“</p><p> “No! Just listen, they cut metal in there right? There’s bound to be some metal...dust or whatever shit in there! I’d just take a look around.” Wade suggested, and Tom went quiet for a moment.</p><p> “I- okay. Yeah, I’ll go do that right now. Thanks, Wade.” He said and hung up before heading back inside. “Larry, hey, were you the only person working yesterday?” </p><p> Larry glanced over at him and nodded. “Yeah, I was. Why?” He asked, a little confused as to why he wanted to know. </p><p> “Did you clean the floors by any chance?”</p><p> “Uh... no. I get kinda lazy sometimes, you know, it’s such a big place-“</p><p> “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I just need to look for some footprints around your metal-cutting-things to look for prints.” Tom said, and Larry pointed a finger at him. “Good idea! The swarf would be disturbed if anyone had walked through there!” He said as he began to lead him to the large machines that cut their metal.  </p><p> “Thanks La- Wait, did you just say swarf?” Tom asked, cocking a brow. “Mmhm. It’s what the little metal scraps that get thrown everywhere like sawdust are called.” Larry explained, and Tom slowly nodded, never knowing there was an actual name for that shit. </p><p> Conveniently right behind those machines were the large bins and wooden separators that held all of the metal- which was now gone. Oh, and some serious swarf that would’ve had to be disturbed to pass. </p><p> Tom clicked on his flashlight, slowly shining it around to see if there was any disturbance, and to his surprise, there was absolutely none. “What...?” He asked to himself quietly. He didn’t understand this in the slightest! “There’s no footprints at all..” </p><p> “So what you’re saying is there’s been literally no human being in my facility!?” Larry asked in confusion, a sudden wave of panic washing over him. </p><p> Tom shrugged in upmost confusion, looking around to see any sort of footprint. Nothing! No where! No bit of metal scrap was even blown out of the way! </p><p> This doesn’t make a shred of sense, so he just turned to Larry and advised him to go get some more locks and cameras if he could and to call them again if anything fishy happened anymore. He then sped back to the station and ran inside, a shocked look on his face. </p><p> “<i>Wade</i>.” Tom said, eyes wide. </p><p>  “Tom?” Wade said, cocking a brow. </p><p> “Listen to me,” Tom said, pulling a chair out from in front of Wade’s desk and sitting down in it. “I don’t know why, and I ESPECIALLY don’t know how, but there were no footprints, okay!? None! Not one! The swarf wasn’t even moved at all!”</p><p> “Hold on- The what?” Wade asked, focusing on the one weird word that Tom had just said to him. </p><p> “Swarf, it’s like metal sawdust, but that doesn’t matter!! What matters is that it wasn’t humans!” Tom said, this was driving him crazy! He needed to know who or what in the world was able to steal that much solid metal in one night! </p><p> “There has to be some sort of explanation for this, I mean, it didn’t just up and vanish!” Wade said, and Tom shook his head, running a hand through his hair and bouncing his leg in thought. </p><p> “I don’t know. I really don’t know, I’m gonna have to do some serious thinking on this.” Tom huffed, leaning back in the chair and shaking his head. </p><p> Maddie, Sonic, Tails, and Ozzie were walking to the park, since Tails and Sonic both wanted to go, Maddie thought it would be better if she went with them to make sure they were safe. </p><p> Sonic and Tails ran around and played with one another, as well as Ozzie and Maddie. The two kids were very much so bonded already, and Maddie could tell. They’ve only known each other for a day, but it feels like they’ve known each other their whole life!</p><p> Maddie loved watching them get along, Tails is the only kid that Sonic could really play with. Especially since Tails can fly rather fast, he can sort of keep up with the blue blur,(which Sonic LOVES!) allowing them to speed around the tracks together mindlessly. </p><p> Sonic and Tails were currently doing just that, and Sonic was looking up at him with a bewildered smile. “No one’s ever been able to keep up with me before!” He said, not looking where he was going. “I feel the same way! I know I can’t go as fast as you at your top speed, but I don’t think I’m doing too shabby!”</p><p> “Heck nah, you’re doin’ awesome!!” Sonic exclaimed, and Tails laughed before looking ahead again, before gasping in surprise. “Sonic! Look out!” He exclaimed, causing the hedgehog to look in front of himself and awkwardly jump up to avoid the large hole in the track that he hadn’t noticed before. His landing was bumpy and on one foot as he put some stress onto his ankle. </p><p> He walked it off a little bit, giving a ‘woo!’ As he realized he was mostly fine. Tails caught up to him, making for-sure he was okay. “Sonic! You alright?” He asked, seeing as he landed on his ankle like that. “Yeah, I’m good! Don’t sweat it, bud.” Sonic answered as he playfully nudged the fox, who smiled up at him as he realized that Sonic was just fine. </p><p> The hedgehog glanced behind himself as he remembered the hole. “Was that in the track three laps ago?” </p><p> Tails looked over at it as well, furrowing his brows confusedly. “Uhh, no, I don’t think so. I don’t remember seeing anything like that.” He answered and began to walk over to it with his blue friend.  </p><p> Sonic knelt down and pushed some of the dirt aside, blinking in confusion and surprise. “Hey! Isn’t this another one of those weird emeralds?” He asked, and Tails’ eyes widened. “Yeah! Oh my god!” He exclaimed, kneeling down as well. Sonic handed the purple gem to Tails, in which he seemed so genuinely shocked about finding another. “The odds of this happening are SO slim! You said you found the red one here too, right?” </p><p>Sonic nodded, pointing over to the grassy area where he almost sat on it. “Yeah! Just right there!” He said, watching Tails shake his head in disbelief. “Wow. That’s just- wow.” He laughed softly. “I-...I still don’t understand how they’re here! Especially not two in the same location...” He explained, handing it back to Sonic, who nodded at what he was saying. </p><p> “That reminds me, where did you find yours?” He asked curiously, sitting down on the grass and watching Tails follow. He sat with him and watched Sonic place the gem gently on the ground. The hedgehog still felt weird touching them. </p><p> “I actually didn’t find mine, I got it from an echidna. He told me to keep it safe, and that I would need it some day... I don’t know what that means, so I just always have it with me.” He explained with a smile. Sonic nodded, interested in what he had to say. “Wow! That’s pretty cool, maybe we’ll save the world some day.” He chuckled, causing Tails to do the same. “That would be the light of my life!” </p><p> Dr. Robotnik watched as his droids assembled what he liked to call Doom. It was massive, at least 10 meters tall, which was around 32 feet. It had blasters and could definitely withstand a bomb or two. The bot was going to be powered by the emerald, but if they could find another, that would be perfect! </p><p> “Stone! Is there any luck with the gems?” Robotnik called out as he was welding two pieces of metal together. “...Maybe!” Stone called back, tracing an amount of power that wasn’t exactly normal. Robotnik stopped the process and stood up straight, taking off the mask he had on and walking over to where Stone was sitting and tracking the power. </p><p> His eyes narrowed on the screen as his assistant was zooming into an area just outside of Green Hill. They knew it surely couldn’t be that dastardly hedgehog now!<br/>
Perfect. </p><p> “Give me the coordinates. Stone, we’re going treasure hunting.” Robotnik said in a sly tone. </p><p> “Logically, who the hell needs that much metal?” Tom wondered aloud as he was now sitting back comfortably in the chair in front of Wade’s desk. The other shrugged, writing down what they already knew to try and connect the dots easier. </p><p> “Well, maybe someone or something was trying to sell it for a lot of profit?” Wade suggested, circling the sentence that explained all of the metal was gone. </p><p> Tom didn’t buy that, shaking his head slightly. “You would’ve needed a lot of trucks to haul that much metal, I don’t know about you, but I think someone would’ve seen them if that was the case.” </p><p> Wade nodded, tapping the pen on the desk. “Maybe someone’s building something?” He half-joked, giving a small chuckle after. Tom went quiet again, thinking on that. What mastermind did he know that could use that much metal? Of course it was Robotnik! </p><p> Tom stood up suddenly. “I- Uh, I gotta make some calls-“ He said and rushed awkwardly out of the building. He pulled out his phone and called Maddie once he was just outside the station. He began pacing around nervously as it rang. </p><p> Maddie was watching the two boys play, and didn’t expect to get any calls. When her phone rang, she contemplated ignoring it all together, but decided to just check the caller ID in case. She blinked confusedly when she saw that it was her husband, keeping an eye on the boys as she accepted the call. </p><p> “Tom? Why are you calling so early?” She said, seeing as it wasn’t even time for his lunch break. “Maddie, you know how I told you this morning about that big metal robbery!?” He exclaimed, surprising her with the tone he was using. </p><p> “Uh, yeah? Are you okay?” She said as she began to get more and more worried. </p><p> “Yeah- I’m fine, I just- I think Robotnik was the one to steal it.” He said, lowering his voice. Maddie’s eyes widened and she glanced around before whispering as well. “Really? That’s... That’s not good.” She said, still keeping an eye on the two as well as the dog who was laying by her feet. </p><p> “I know. There’s not much I can do though! He technically doesn’t even exist, so I can’t really do anything! Plus, I don’t know where the hell he is!” Tom explained, continuing to pace around and make sure no one was listening to him. </p><p> “All we can do is hope that either it’s really not him, or that he’s not building anything that could harm anyone.” Maddie said, keeping her cool in hopes that it would rub off on her husband. It worked, easing his nerves a bit and helping him get ahold of himself again. </p><p> “You’re right. It might not even be Robotnik! Who knows, it‘s still a mystery, but it’s the only logical explanation...” He mumbled, stopping and staring at the ground as he began to think. </p><p> “Everything will turn out fine, okay? Just stay calm and keep your cool.” Maddie soothed, hearing her husband take a deep breath before sighing. “Okay, I’m good. I’m alright. Thanks, honey.” </p><p> “No problem, love! I’m gonna go check on the boys, I love you and be safe!” Maddie said, a bright smile on her face. “Alright sweetheart, I love you too!” Tom said before the call ended. </p><p> Maddie walked over to the boys with Ozzie, earning two big and happy grins. “Hi, mom!” Sonic said, patting the ground beside them in an offer for her to sit with them. She smiled and sat beside the boys, looking over to see Ozzie lay down beside them. </p><p> “Have you guys been having fun?” She asked, glancing between the two. They both nodded excitedly. “Yes! Earth has so many different things from our planet! I would’ve never known it was so amazing just by researching it!” Tails said, his eyes bright and full of wonder and awe. </p><p> “I’m glad you’re having so much fun, Tails.” Maddie smiled, and Sonic nodded. “Me and Tails were running on the track and we found another gem!” He said, pointing to the emerald on the ground. “Oh, wow! Good job, boys!” She said, not realizing how important they were. She just kind of thought they were-... toys? Not exactly toys, but they were perfectly chiseled and brightly colored, so she didn’t really think they were natural per say. </p><p> Robotnik and Stone were currently hiking through a thick area of forest and keeping their eyes peeled for any shiny emeralds. Stone was holding out a device that was supposed to be able to pick up on the strong power levels of the emeralds, but since these things were otherworldly, they couldn’t perfect it. That’s just like the one at their lab, it couldn’t pick up on exactly what the emerald was putting out, but it was hopefully good enough to give them the general area..</p><p> “Any luck yet, Stone?” Robotnik grumbled as he cut away some leaves to get through. Stone was quiet for a moment, really trying to get a reading. “Oh! Wait... no.” He sighed, getting frustrated with the damn thing. </p><p> Robotnik rolled his eyes, shaking his head and looking around. “Make sure to tell me if you get any-“</p><p> “Wait!” Stone exclaimed, halting as he suddenly got a reading. “Over here!” He said, pointing straight and slightly to the left of where they were already walking. They hurried over to where the reading lead them to and started to look around. They didn’t see it immediately- they didn’t even know what color to be looking for! </p><p> When they saw a bright diamond shaped object glittering because of the sunlight shining through the trees, they rushed over to it. It was light blue, and looked just like the other emerald they had, so they quickly put it safe in a padded box they took with them in case they did find it. </p><p> Robotnik laughed evilly as he realized that his plan was going accordingly, quite excited that he would finally be able to power one more secret feature he was working on. Hopefully, at least. </p><p> “Woah, wait just a second.” Stone said, realizing that the device was going off AGAIN. Robotnik couldn’t believe this, brows furrowed in surprise yet amazement. “You’re KIDDING ME!” Robotnik grinned, and that’s how they went to collect yet ANOTHER emerald. It was white-ish, and a bit grey in some light. This one was a bit farther than the others, even past their lair! It didn’t matter in the slightest, because now Robotnik had THREE incredibly strong power sources! He felt unstoppable! There was no use looking for any more- if there was even any at all! </p><p> No one could stop him now.</p><p> Tom was now driving around town, making sure everyone was in line, (not that anything happened with the regular folk around here anyway), when Crazy Carl himself came running down the street waving something in his hands. “Wachowski!!!! TOM!!” He exclaimed, causing Tom to calmly pull over and get out of his car. </p><p> “Yes, sir?” He sighed with an amused look on his face, putting his thumbs in his own belt loops and cocking a brow as Carl held out something to him that was dark blue. “This reminded me of that devil of yours! I found it when I was digging in my back yard! I don’t know what it is, but I know I don’t like it!” He said in a hurried and almost paranoid tone. </p><p> Tom took it in his hands and studied it, realizing that it was something Tails seemed to rave about. He didn’t really remember what he said about it, but he remembers it being kind of important. “Oh, I’ve seen one of these lil’ guys before. Nothing to worry about, Sonic-“ Tom cut himself off as he saw Carl squint, not knowing who he was talking about. “err, sorry, <i>blue blur</i>, found one of these at the park. It’s harmless.” He said, starting to hand it back before Crazy Carl put his hands up, not taking it. “I don’t want it, who knows what it’s hiding! You take it, you’re the sherif!” He said. </p><p> Tom slowly blinked, trying not to make any sarcastic faces. He nodded, holding onto it. “Alright, if you say so. Thanks for bringing it to my attention- I guess.” </p><p> “No problem, Officer! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have more important things to attend to!” Carl said before running off just as he had run to Tom’s car. Tom sighed out, scratching the back of his head. Every interaction he had with Crazy Carl was very... interesting. </p><p> He got home a while after that experience, happy to be home after that weird day at work. Maddie and Ozzie greeted him, funnily enough both with a kiss. </p><p> He always loved coming home to his family, but noticed some faces missing. “Where are the boys?” He asked, but as if on cue, the two were running down the stairs from Sonic’s room and ready to greet Tom. “Tom! Did you find out who robbed that metal place?” Sonic asked, eyes full of whimsical childishness. </p><p> Tom shook his head with a smile. “Nope, sorry buddy. But, I did talk to Crazy Carl, and he found one of those diamond things you guys like.” He said, handing it to Tails, since Sonic averted from touching them when he could. </p><p> “Wait- Who had this? These are really important!” Tails said, cocking his head confusedly. Sonic chuckled at the memory of him outsmarting the insane man. “We call him Crazy Carl because he’s crazy!” He said, patting Tails on the shoulder, who nodded. “Hmm, sounds about right.” He said with a shrug. </p><p> Everything died down after that, no more alarming phone calls, Tails and Sonic were EXTREMELY close, and even Tom and Maddie were forming a bond with him! Everything was going amazing. </p><p> Speaking of everything going amazing, Robotnik has just finished Doom, who exceeded his expectations tenfold! There were so many features that he was able to power up and include because of these emeralds, and he was ready to go as soon as the machine was done. </p><p> “Stone!” He called, watching his right hand man walk out into the space they kept the Doom-Bot. His eyes widened, this being his first formal look at the final design. “I- Wow, Doctor, you’ve outdone yourself!” He chuckled, truly in awe of the sheer mass of it all. </p><p> Robotnik grinned, before sticking a hand out to him. “Join me.” </p><p> Stone blinked in confusion, not understanding what his boss was proposing to him. “...Sir, I don’t understand what you mean-“</p><p> “I’m going to rule the world from this day forward, who else would I want by my side than you?” Robotnik said, still having that grin on his face. Stone stuck by him from the day he joined his team! Many assistants came and went, but Stone stayed. He would always stay. </p><p> Stone understood now, sharing Robotnik’s grin as he took his hand. “Of course I’ll join you.” </p><p> From that moment on, the two went up and into the Doom, there was enough room for a pilot and the co-pilot, which was obviously Robotnik and Stone! Robotnik controlled the main movements, and Stone quickly figured out how his own mechanisms worked, which were some weapons and the like. </p><p> “Are you ready for this, Stone?” Robotnik said, looking over at him with a determined expression. “I’m ready, Doctor.” </p><p> Tom, Maddie, Sonic, Tails, AND Ozzie were currently having quite a relaxing time, seeing as it was a Friday evening. They just put on some family friendly comedy show and enjoyed a nice time together. Tom’s cell rang from the kitchen where he had left it last. He decided to ignore it, if it was really important, whoever it was would call back. </p><p> Well, they did. </p><p> He huffed and excused himself, getting up and answering the phone. Before he could even say hello, the person on the other line was shouting in a horrified tone. “TOM!! HOLY SHIT, IT’S THAT ROBOTNIK NUT!! HE’S BACK, HOW THE HELL IS HE BACK!? HE’S GOT A ROBOT-“</p><p> “Wade! WADE! Calm down!! I can barely hear you, what the hell’s going on!?” Tom asked, walking outside so he wouldn’t disturb his family. Wade took some deep breaths, and Tom could hear some blinds being pulled shut. “It’s that Robotnik guy! He-He’s back, and he’s got a huge robot! I don’t know what to do, Tom! He’s terrorizing the fucking city!” </p><p> Tom’s blood ran cold, his heart rate speeding up at the severity in Wade’s tone. “Holy shit- Okay, I-“ He stumbled over his words, trying to think of anything he could do to stop him. </p><p> “Oh fuck, I think he’s coming this w-“ Before Wade could get his whole sentence out, the line cut short. Tom waited for a moment before truly panicking. “Wade? WADE!?” This was NOT good. Really really REALLY not good! He ran back inside, alerting his wife because of how he was acting. “Tom? What’s going on?” Maddie asked, standing up. Sonic and Tails looked over at the man, who was staring at the ground and biting the inside of his cheek as he thought. </p><p> “It’s Robotnik.” He finally got out. </p><p> Maddie’s eyes widened a bit in shock, and Sonic sat up. Tails was utterly confused, looking between them all. “Who’s that?” He asked, getting anxious because of how they were all acting. </p><p> “He’s that crazy guy I told you about a few days ago when you first got here...” Sonic whispered, and Tails finally knew who he was talking about. </p><p> <i>“... this guy named Robotnik or whatever tried to kill me, we banished him to the mushroom world, people knew about me and thankfully didn’t kill me, he came back and almost killed my family, but then he fled...”</i></p><p> Sonic then hopped off the couch, balling his hands into fists. “Well? What are we waiting for!? We have to knock some sense into him again!” </p><p> Tom shook his head. “No. I can’t risk you guys getting hurt again. You’re not going.” He said firmly, and Sonic looked at him like he was crazy. “What!? But we beat him last time! Why can’t we do it again!?” </p><p> “Because he has a BIG droid this time. We don’t know what that means. Let me check it out, okay? It’s for the best!” Tom said, just wanting to protect his family. “No!! You’ll get hurt, he won’t be able to touch me, I’m way too fast for that old man! Trust me!!” Sonic said, looking him in the eyes. </p><p> “Sonic-“</p><p> “<i>Dad</i>.”</p><p> Tom grit his teeth, looking over at Maddie, who didn’t say or do anything, not really knowing anything else they could do...</p><p> He swallowed thickly, looking away for a moment before sighing heavily. “Fine. Fine! We need to go right now.” He said, and they all headed towards the door. “Wait!” Tails exclaimed, running upstairs quickly before coming back with the emeralds. “These may help!!” </p><p> Sonic gasped. “Of course! Good idea Tails!” He smiled with a nod. They hurried out to the car and got in, speeding into the town. It was crazy- People everywhere were running around, trying to drive away from the large bot that was shooting at buildings and cars. </p><p> Sonic felt himself getting angrier and angrier with every mile closer they got, wanting to disassemble that bot and banish them to a world farther away than that stupid mushroom planet! Tails’ jaw dropped when he saw the mass of that thing, putting two and two together about that metal robbery. </p><p> “Oh my-...” He trailed off, wondering how in the world they would pull this off. Sonic wanted nothing more than to just take a million good hits at it, but Tom would surely give him a chewing after if he did. </p><p> The Doughnut Lord himself pulled over, and all four of them raced out of the car. </p><p> Robotnik looked down, seeing those faces he knew all too well, and for some reason a weird fox kid. He grinned wildly, turning the droid to face them. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t the Wachowskis! So nice to see you again, it’s a shame in a few moments you’ll be blown to bits!” He said, looking over at his partner. Stone had his finger resting over the laser button, and he wouldn’t hesitate to shoot if given the word. </p><p> Tom shoved his family behind him protectively, his heart pounding wildly. Sonic looked up at him, wondering how in the world he had the courage to do that. </p><p> “Oh silly, silly Tom. Don’t you see? One blast from this baby could destroy a building! You don’t stand a chance. Just give up and cower, it’ll be easier for everyone.” Robotnik snickered, watching the other man frown. They weren’t backing down. </p><p> “Hey! Egghead! Why don’t you stop talking out of your BUTT and fight like a man!!” Sonic hissed, and Tom glanced down at him, giving him a look that truly said, “what the HELL are you thinking!?”</p><p> Robotnik only grinned wider, tapping his chin in thought. “Hmm, seems like you haven’t fully learned from last time, huh? Unlike you, I HAVE learned from last time. I know your tactics. I can predict your every move.” </p><p> Sonic frowned, balling his hands into tight fists and stepping to the left, out from behind Tom. “You haven’t seen anything yet.” </p><p> “Sonic, get back here this instant!” Tom hissed, his teeth clenched nervously. No way he was losing his son! Not like this. </p><p> “I can say the same to you. Get ready to be eliminated, <i>Sonic.</i>” Robotnik growled out, but before he could do anything, that tiny fox child joined him at his side. Sonic looked over at him with a genuinely surprised face, and Tails just gave him a confident thumbs up. Sonic smirked at that, before looking back over at his parents. </p><p> “Tom! Maddie! Make sure no one gets hurt! Me ‘n Tails got this!” He assured, and just when Maddie was going to tell them to get their asses back over here, they were off. </p><p> Sonic jumped up and landed on the glass of their droid that separated them, looking in on them with a cocky smile. Tails was right by his side, flying up and having his fists balled, ready to give it his all. </p><p> “I see you’ve brought a friend, no matter! We will destroy you both regardless!” Robotnik said and threw Sonic off of the glass, but he landed perfectly on his feet. He attempted to swing one of the large arms at Tails, but he was too fast. He flew fast and hard at the glass, managing to get a tiny crack on it already. Robotnik snarled his lip at this. “Stone, fire.”</p><p> And he did, he began open firing, but they were just too speedy. He couldn’t predict any pattern to shoot in! Sonic planted his feet on the ground with a grin, jumping up into a spin-dash and hitting the glass once more. A slightly bigger crack appeared, and this made them even more frustrated. Tails copied this move, hitting the droid in the side and causing it to go a bit off balance. </p><p> Sonic smiled at the fact that Tails could use that move too, but not spending too much time on that thought as he needed to go fast. While Tails was charging up another shot, Robotnik aimed, and Stone fired. Luckily, Sonic saw it all. He was JUST fast enough to grab the fox and get him to safety. That laser was probably one of the quickest things he’s seen in a while! Even when everything was slow for him, that laser was <i>fast</i>. </p><p> He looked behind himself, and it really did do a number of damage to the sidewalk and ground where he stood. “Thanks for the save, Sonic!” Tails said, looking over at the Doom. “Don’t sweat it! Just keep a better look out for yourself, okay bud?” He said, and Tails nodded. “You got it!” </p><p> The Doom needed to reload, coming at them manually at a frighteningly fast speed for that big of a bot. Sonic and Tails jumped in opposite directions before spin-dashing at both of it’s sides. It wasn’t showing many signs of weakness yet, which wasn’t a good thing. </p><p> “Sonic, here, take these!” Tails exclaimed, tossing him the two emeralds he was saving. Sonic grabbed the red and purple gems, ignoring the weird feeling he got when he held them. He jumped and dashed to avoid the shots dished out by the droid, running up it at top speeds and when Robotnik recklessly aimed up to shoot him, Sonic quickly jumped on the arm and made him shoot itself in the chest. </p><p> It didn’t seem to do too much, though, as it could still walk and shoot just fine! It set it’s sights on Tails now, running at him. Tails flew up and over the droid, spin-dashing it in the back to make it eat the pavement. And it did, but it got up just fine. It had scratches and paint chips, yet was still as fast as when they had first got there. </p><p> Now Sonic was the one getting frustrated, firing off spin-dash after spin-dash, kick after kick, yet still it didn’t seem to be doing that much. </p><p> Robotnik seemed to be getting tired of this foolish fight, so he grinned. “Grab the couple.” He hissed, and they set their sights on Tom and Maddie, who were helping people get the hell out of there. </p><p>  The emeralds made Sonic feel extremely weird, kind of on edge and riled, so when Robotnik even uttered the words about hurting his parents, sparks flew from his quills to his fists. </p><p> The Doom grabbed the two humans with it’s large metal hands, holding them tightly. They couldn’t move- or really breathe for that matter, but they were alive. </p><p> “Let them GO!” Sonic exclaimed, ready to full on explode with anger. Tails panted, watching him. This didn’t make sense to him, why did Robotnik grab them if he could’ve just ended the fight whenever he wanted? There had to be a reason... </p><p> “Be careful, Sonic. You could end your poor ma and pa’s life right now!” The mad scientist threatened, squeezing them. Tom and Maddie hissed in pain, struggling to try and get free. </p><p> The lightning surrounding Sonic was more than it had ever been. He looked like a full blown thunderstorm right now as his body shook with power. </p><p> Robotnik set the hands down, pressing a button and detaching the body of the Doom from the now metal pod-like ship they were in. The hands still held them extremely tight, and Sonic ran to them, though keeping his distance for a moment. He knew he was probably dangerous, because he was just SO angry, he didn’t want to hurt his parents. </p><p> The lightning was loud, he didn’t hear them at first, but their voices finally got through to his ears. </p><p> “SONIC! GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE-“ Tom’s voice was cut off by a loud shot, shaking the ground and causing everyone to flinch. Sonic’s blood now ran cold. His dream- no, no, NO, NO- </p><p> He knew he didn’t want to look, but he had to. He opened his eyes, and was extremely relieved to see his parents were still alive. The wall behind them was destroyed, the only thing that was wrong with them was minor cuts on the face from debris. Thank god. </p><p> That still angered Sonic to the core. No one hurts his parents and gets away with it. He looked back over at Robotnik, who was grinning, thinking he finally found a way to beat Sonic. </p><p> He was about to say something stupid, when he noticed three almost identical shiny things in that pod. He got an idea. This could possibly save them. He grabbed the red and purple emeralds that tails had tossed him before and jumped over the pod so that his parents were out of the line of fire. He could hear them scream for him to stop, but he had to do this. </p><p> “HEY EGGMAN! WANT THESE?” He called, waving them around. “COME AND GET ‘EM!” He signaled to Tails, who flew over and took his hand, flying them both up into the sky. Robotnik growled out, pushing the accelerator to the max and tilting the steering mechanism fully up. Stone fired at them, but Tails was smart and made random patterns to confuse them so they couldn’t get a single shot on them. </p><p> Sonic waited until they were high enough before letting go of Tails’ hand and allowing gravity and his super charged spin-dash to do some major damage to the pod. The glass broke and the emeralds were jostled from their slots, making them fall out and back to earth. But the pod was still functional, since it was able to work a while without them. He bounced off of the pod, but was able to land on it once more. “Let them GO, EGGHEAD!” He exclaimed, standing on the glass in a way that they were eye to eye with each other. </p><p> Robotnik watched the emeralds fall, slamming his fist into the dash. Tails landed on the glass as well, giving himself a rest as he couldn’t fly anymore. He needed to take a breather because he couldn’t make enough energy to sustain himself like Sonic could. </p><p> Robotnik suddenly thought of a plan, and jerked the steering mechanism. Sonic was launched off of the ship, but Tails was able to grab onto an exposed piece of the wall now that some of the glass was broken. He looked down, seeing Sonic fall. </p><p> “SONIC!!” He exclaimed, but knowing that he physically couldn’t do anything. He got an idea, remembering the old tale about getting all seven together. He gasped and took out the yellow and blue gems, looking at them with a determined stare before throwing them down fast. </p><p> “SONIC, GRAB ‘EM!!” He exclaimed, and Sonic just barely heard him. He was able to grab the yellow and blue emeralds as he fell, looking down and squinting because of the vast winds. Calming himself, he began to maneuver his body in a way to fall faster, grabbing on to all the emeralds. </p><p> One, two, three, four, five, six, and seven. </p><p> He had them all in his arms, looking up as he saw the ship get smaller and smaller. Nothing was happening! He thought he was going to die. The emeralds began to slip out of his hands, and Sonic squeezed his eyes shut as the last emerald escaped his grasp. </p><p> An emotion he’d never felt washed over his body, making him feel strangely warm from the inside. His hands shook as he felt like time stopped. </p><p> Tom and Maddie were watching in horror, tears freely running down the woman’s face as she knew this was the end. A bright yellow light emitted from the sky, causing everyone that was watching to have to look away. </p><p> Sonic cracked open an eye once he realized he wasn’t dead, and what he saw surprised him. All seven emeralds were circling him, and suddenly, he just wasn’t falling anymore. </p><p> His own fur scared him, what was once deep blue was now a bright gold-yellow. He didn’t understand this, but he felt more powerful than he ever had his entire LIFE! He attempted to move, accidentally doing a flip in the sky. He confusedly reached behind himself and felt that his quills were spiked up, defying gravity in every single way. He looked up at the ship, which was trying to make it’s get away on it’s last sliver of power. Sonic’s eyes narrowed as he quickly found out how to move, feeling like a bird as he was able to fly up into the sky. </p><p> He saw Tails get up from the ship, using quite literally the last bit of his energy to fly so Sonic could take care of this hunk ‘a junk. </p><p> “I’d ask you if you had any last words, but I don’t think you deserve any.” Sonic hissed, seeing the look of panic on their faces as he blew through the ship. It dropped in one piece, though there was a giant hole through it. He quickly grabbed Tails, seeing that he was about to pass out from exhaustion. </p><p> “I’ve got you buddy!” He said, and Tails looked up at him through those sleepy eyes of his. “The tale was true- Look at you! This-...This is amazing!” He said in awe, and Sonic smiled knowing they were safe. </p><p> He flew back down to Green Hill, as they were so high in the sky that they were hovering over a few different places at once. Tom and Maddie were awestruck at their son, who (after gently sitting Tails on the ground) got them out without a scratch. The emeralds then released him from that super form and he toppled clumsily to the floor, not used to his walking legs now. He wasn’t hurt, and neither was Tails. All they had were bumps and scrapes, thankfully. </p><p> Tom and Maddie ran to them, embracing them both and, though Tom didn’t want to admit it, they were crying. “Oh my god, boys! You’re okay!” Maddie cried, feeling them hug them back and enjoy the warmth they provided. Tom sniffed, holding them close and refusing to let go yet. </p><p> “We’re okay... We’re fine!” Sonic said, trying to comfort his parents. “Yeah! We beat the bad guys, well, Sonic did!” Tails chuckled sheepishly. Sonic shook his head. “No, <i>we</i> beat ‘em, lil’ bro.” He said, a proud smile on his face. The way Tails’ face lit up was nothing short of proud, happy, and beaming with acceptance! </p><p> “Let’s go home, everyone. We’ve had a day.” Tom said, slowly pulling away and wiping his face on his sleeve. Sonic smiled up at his parents, and they looked proud. Still a little terrified, but proud. </p><p> So the family went home, got cleaned up, and just took some time to truly relax and let out the nervous tension they had, by unpausing that comedy show and petting Ozzie in a comfortable silence. </p><p> They knew they would be okay now, just them being one big happy family! It didn’t matter that they looked a little different from each other, Tom, Maddie, Sonic, Tails, and Ozzie were family. No one could ever take that away from them. </p><p> It smelled like smoke, burnt motor oil-, oh, and failure wherever Robotnik was. He doesn’t remember much about what happened in the past thirty minutes, but he knew he wasn’t in bed. He sat up and looked around, realizing they had indeed crashed. Trees were snapped all around them, and the sudden overwhelming smell of a coppery substance hit his nose. He glanced over to his side and suddenly was full of adrenaline. Stone was... unconscious, hopefully. Blood has been rushing out of his nose for quite some time it seemed, but it had long been stopped now. </p><p> Robotnik reached down to undo the man’s seatbelt to get a better angle to see him in when he saw that glass and other sharp objects had definitely punctured his assistant in many ways. He shook him gently, no answer. He checked his pulse, barely. He tried to see if he was breathing, and holy SHIT HE WASN’T BREATHING! </p><p> Robotnik pulled out an old save file in his memory about CPR and began to use what knowledge he had on him to try and save his life. He did this procedure for roughly ten minutes straight before finally being rewarded with Stone taking a large gasp of air. Robotnik watched his eyes shoot open and a wave of relief washed over his body. </p><p> He suddenly panted now, putting a hand over his chest and looking around as he felt like he was going to pass out again. “Hey- HEY, just take it easy will you!? God! You’re going to pass out after I just did all that work to bring you back!?” Robotnik hissed, and Stone calmed down, seeing a face he knew. </p><p> “Where... are we!?” He rasped out, turning his head, coughing, and spitting out blood. Robotnik looked around as well, grimacing at the fact they lost. “I don’t know, but that stupid fucking hedgehog is going to pay.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>holy shit this is really long owo ;; i think this is the end to this story though so thanks for reading ! uhh if u wanna find me anywhere i have an art account where i post shitty drawings ?? @/cuhcoombuh on instagram !</p>
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